


Devilish Uncertainty

by Certeis



Category: Original Work
Genre: Devils, Dubious Consent, F/F, F/M, Femdom, Futanari, How Do I Tag, Lesbian, Multi, Other, Pegging, Shapeshifter, Transgender
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-10 14:17:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 21,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15293355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Certeis/pseuds/Certeis
Summary: (this story is a direct sequel to "The Warlord's Kitten" I'd strongly suggest you read that first)Forty years after Lin'qa is kidnapped, she and Daliyah both earn their freedom, albeit in vastly different ways.  Lin'qa seeks revenge on her sister at any cost, whilst Daliyah searches for Lin'qa...





	1. Chapter 1

A smelly, smothering presence invaded Lin’qa’s dreams, and she felt herself starting to awaken in a hurry.  The presence didn’t go away, and in fact, mashed into her face even harder, forcing her brain to acknowledge that something was happening to her physically and not just in the dream.

 

“Gaaah!” She cried out grumpily, twisting her face away from whatever it was that was smothering her.  Sleep started to close in around her again the moment she got free, but the moment wasn’t long enough to actually drift very far.  The intruder found her face again, pressing uncomfortably into it. “Alright! Alright! I’m getting up!” She whined, exerting her entire strength to push the invader away so that she could sit up and see what was happening.  Laniwyn’s foot had been mashed into her face to awaken her. Her elven friend loomed above her, looking down with a critical expression on her face.

 

_ ‘You awake?’  _ The deaf elf’s hand flickered in a graceful display of sign language.  No doubt she’d have seen Lin’qa whining about the fact that the elf’s foot was in her face, but wouldn’t have actually heard her declaration of wakefulness.

 

_ ‘Yes,’ _ She signed back as she sat up, a sour expression on her face.

 

_ ‘Good.  Get up, you’re gonna work a half-shift in the kitchen today.’   _ Laniwyn withdrew her foot and as soon as she finished signing, placed her hands on her hips.

 

_ ‘The Kitchen? Laniwyn I haven’t worked in the kitchen since—’   _ She stopped.  “Since Momma got sick” was the second half of that sentence, but she couldn’t bring herself to sign it. Instead, she just looked away so that she wouldn't have to see what her friend was signing to her.  She heard the elf move, but didn’t see what she was doing until a hand on her face roughly dragged her gaze back to her.

 

_ ‘Lin, I’m really worried about you.  It’s fine to grieve but you’ve been moping about for two months now.  You need to do something. Anything. Today it’s gonna be working a half-shift in the kitchen with me, so get your cute ass out of bed.’   _ Laniwyn glowered at her as her hands signed rapidly.  She always signed more quickly when she was agitated, and after a few decades of friendship, Lin’qa’s ability to read rapid signing had improved drastically.

 

_ ‘Maybe another day, Laniwyn, I don’t—’   _ “Owwww! What the fuuuuck!” She squealed as Laniwyn grabbed her by the ears and pulled her upwards, forcing her onto her feet, her vocal whine literally falling on deaf ears.  Laniwyn shoved her towards her closet and glared at her.

 

_ ‘Get dressed.  Or be naked, I don’t care, but you’re coming with me.’ _

 

It wasn’t until two hours later, as Lin’qa was chopping some celery, that she realized she actually  _ was _ feeling better.  It had been a bit distressing when the only person in the kitchen that she recognized other than Laniwyn had been this Orcess named Hezlu who used to wash dishes for them.  She was the sous-chef now, and s he’d warmly greeted Lin’qa with a crushing hug.

 

“You gonna be with us more often again, Kitty?” Hezlu asked during their break, before it was time to get into full swing preparations for the evening meal.

 

“I dunno...  And, uhh… can I ask you to call me Lin’qa? Or just Lin is fine.” She mumbled as she tasted the rice dish Laniwyn was working on.  It was amazing, of course. Laniwyn was… really amazing.

 

“Heyyyy, Lin, don’t cry,” Hezlu grabbed Lin’qa around the shoulders with a strong arm and hugged her into her cleavage.  Lin’qa hadn’t even realized she had been crying.

 

“Uurrrhm fuurrn.”  If Hezlu understood her muffled voice, she didn’t show it, because she squeezed tighter and held her there for several moments before letting her go.  Lin’qa coughed a little and whined. “I’m… fine.” She repeated herself, a little more clearly without the cleavage.

 

“You know, I went out drinking with Ravla a few nights ago, and once I got her piss drunk, she started talking about you.  Wouldn’t stop crying about how much she misses you, actually. You should go see her.” Hezlu grabbed a mug of her beer and downed half of it in one go.  Lin’qa had a feeling that she went out drinking a lot, with or without Ravla.

 

“That’s a really good idea, actually.  Maybe I’ll—” She trailed off as Laniwyn stalked up to the two of them.

 

_ ‘You’re gonna go see Ravla?’  _ She signed.

 

Lin’qa frowned at her in confusion.   _ ‘How did you know what we were talking about?’ _

 

_ ‘I can read body language just as well as sign language.  Go see her, get outside for a bit. I’ll pack you some food to bring her and I’ll see you tomorrow.  Full shift.’  _ She walked away without giving Lin’qa a chance to protest.

 

She was tidied up and out the door with a bundle of food for Ravla within the hour.  As she travelled across the courtyard and looked up at the anti-air towers, she was filled with a sense of absurdity.  It felt wrong for her to to be walking out of the fortress alone, past the heavily defended gates and towers with the guards barely even giving her a second glance.

 

Her mind wandered to Dellie.  She hadn’t seen the other Rakshasa since right before Zagrath retired.  Her former master was probably dead at this point, just like Momma. Maybe she was free? Maybe Dellie was Daliyah now, the same way she wasn’t Kitty, she was Lin’qa.  She abandoned the thought as she reached the building where Ravla lived. There was no way for her to find out where she’d gotten off to. 

 

Ravla’s house was… quaint.  Lin’qa had never seen it before, even though she’d been there when Ravla was born, and had babysat her… Goddess, she couldn’t even count how often.  Even with all that, Ravla had grown up and gone on to live her own life, and Lin’qa had spent her time at Momma’s side. She’d just sort of assumed that Ravla would live in a nice place, being the Chieftain’s daughter, but apparently she was just like any other member of the clan.  She’d heard often how much the society of the Fifty Clans disliked showing people preferential treatment, but it was still weird to see Momma’s daughter being a soldier like everybody else.

 

“Ki— Lin’qa.  Nice to see you up and about, finally.  Mrani didn’t kick you out of your room, did she?”  Ravla was brewing some tea over a little fire in the hearth.

 

“No, I still have it.  I worked in the kitchen a little with Laniwyn, today.”  Lin’qa set the rice dish she’d brought from there down on the table and started to unpack it.  It was cooked in a red yogurt-based sauce that Laniwyn had absolutely loaded down with spices and then added some chunks of beef to.

 

“Good.  She seemed a little down about the idea of you staying there at first. I had to get her in a headlock before she reconsidered.”  Ravla snickered and started pouring the tea.

 

“I don’t believe that for a second, Ravvie.” In spite of herself, Lin’qa smiled a little, and Ravla snorted derisively.-

 

“Did too.  Mrani is a total punk.  No match for Chief Rugana’s daughter.”  She put the kettle away and sat down with a heavy grunt and a pained expression.  “Caught an elbow in the ribs today. Don’t you snicker at me! I’m the toughest bitch in this family now that dad’s gone, magic or no magic.”

 

Lin’qa suppressed the rest of her giggle and handed her a plate of food which she started tearing into immediately.  “Is that what we are? A family?”

 

“Fuck this is good,” Ravla spoke into her food, and cleared her throat after inhaling a third of the plate.  “Are we? I dunno. Depends if you decide to stay here with us or not. You thought about whether or not you’re gonna go see your parents?”

 

Lin’qa winced.  She’d been trying very hard to avoid thinking about that, actually.  “I did sort of wonder what happened to Smoke. Momma avoided talking about her after that time I tried to run away.”

 

“Really?  Dad basically chased her out ages ago.  She said it looked bad for negotiations with the U.R.F. and that Smoke wasn’t trustworthy.  You basically never left her side, you didn’t know about that?” Ravla kept eating, but at a reasonable pace now.

 

“N-No…” Lin’qa’s voice caught in her throat.  Momma had done that? She knew then for certain that Momma did it because of how Felida had turned her in.  She’d done it for her, in a bizarre way, and without ever telling her. A wave of sorrow and grief welled up within her, and she expected herself to start crying, but she didn’t.  Five seconds passed, ten, fifteen, and finally she heaved a sigh, and started eating her food. It  _ was _ really good.

 

“Well, and there’s also been rumours this month that she’s working with Adder’s Bite.  You know how it is, Dad finally dies and now there’s stories that people are gonna take her legacy down.  Sounds like a bunch of shit, to me.” Ravla shook her head, and rolled her eyes.

 

Lin’qa paused, her spoon halfway to her mouth.  Adder’s Bite… what clan were they? She’d stopped following the local politics the past few years.  “What are Adder’s Bite up to?”

 

“Leading a counter coalition.  They want to start a war with those stupid humans.  Uhhh… The something... Empire? Can’t remember. But Adder’s Bite have gotten their hands on some weird new weapons that they’re using in skirmishes with smaller clans. People are saying it’s Smoke providing them.” Ravla finished off her plate, and started getting herself some more.

 

Lin’qa put her fork down, and scowled at the half-finished food.  This was what her sister was doing? Not just selling off the family’s property, but starting wars.  She felt anger down in the pit of her stomach. Not just starting wars, but trying to break what Momma had built.  “I… I actually do think I need to go home. I need to… talk. I need to have a talk with my Sister.”

 

“Are we… still talking about Smoke?” Ravla asked, not slowing down the rate at which she was inhaling Laniwyn’s cooking.

 

“Yeah.  Yeah we are.  Do you think Chief Mrani would let me tag along on a ship to Lek?”

 

Ravla laughed, and flashed Lin’qa a giant grin.  “She will if she doesn’t want to end up in another headlock.”

 

***

 

Something felt… perverse, about walking through these doors again.  She’d spent decades in this room, Momma’s room. Slept in the bed and on the floor.  Sometimes in the big chair. Momma had given up the room when she’d retired as Chieftain, and they’d moved into something smaller, still within the fortress walls.  Momma had retired, but she still gave her successor advice every now and again.

 

Chief Mrani eyed her suspiciously as she walked through the doors, and a pair of armed guards stopped her as soon as she crossed the threshold.  “That’s far enough, Kitty. We can speak from this distance.” The orcess had a rough, gravelly voice, ever since she’d gotten a crossbow bolt through the throat twenty years ago.

 

“Mrani, I’ve known you since you first joined the Clan,” Lin’qa frowned at the orcess.  More than that, she’d been involved in the decision to groom Mrani as Momma’s successor.  It had still come down to a vote, of all things. Lin’qa wasn’t sure how such a ridiculous system of choosing the Clan’s leader was ever a good idea, but apparently that was what happened when the title passed peacefully.

 

“Yeah, and you had shackles on, then.  Just because I’m letting you stay in my fortress doesn’t mean I trust you to hold a knife to my throat.” Mrani scowled at her, angrily.  She hadn’t liked Lin’qa’s comment about how long the two had known one another. She wasn’t sure what she’d said wrong, there.

 

“The shackles haven’t worked since the assassination attempt, actually.”  Lin’qa pulled a thread of magic from the source, and wove the illusion of the four metal bands around her thighs and upper arms.  One of the bands was still there, of course, so all she had to do was create the illusion of the runes. The others she formed the entire thing, holding the image there for a few seconds before letting it melt away.  “Momma had them disabled. I did what she wanted with my magic for decades.”

 

“Fucking Rugana,” Mrani muttered.  “That bitch is dead and I’m still just learning all the ways she outsmarted everybody.  Fine then, come inside. What are you even here for?”

 

“Laniwyn and I are going to Lek.  Can we tag along with the next ship going there?”  Lin’qa took several steps inside the room but still kept a little distance from Mrani.

 

“What? Laniwyn is leaving? Fuck.” Mrani scowled at her as though it was her fault and not Laniwyn’s own decision to make.  “Ugh. Fine, I’ll have a word with one of the Captains, someone will have space for two passengers.”

 

“And… I was wondering if you could spare me some money? Just a little to get by at first.”

 

Mrani narrowed her eyes at Lin’qa without saying anything.  Her incredulous expression was asking why she’d ever just give Lin’qa some ‘free’ money.

 

“Come on, the Clan owes me.  Maybe not much, but…” Lin’qa wasn’t sure if she should be upset, or ashamed.  She definitely experienced both emotions.

 

Mrani grunted, and took a pouch off her belt.  She removed most but not all of the coins that were jingling around inside, and then threw it to Lin’qa.  “That’s from me, not the Clan. The Singing Spears don’t owe you shit, but we set you free anyway.”

 

“I’m the one who recommended you to her, you know,”  Lin’qa knelt down, gathering up the two coins that had fallen free of the little pouch and putting them back inside.  When she lifted it up, it felt like… eight? People who helped out in the Kitchen got two and a half for a day’s work.  “I thought you’d be a good protegee. You’re kind of a cunt, but I still think I was right.”

 

Mrani snorted at her, an especially porcine sound that she’d made for as long as Lin’qa had known her.  She was actually kind of self-conscious about it, so Lin’qa didn’t point it out. “Appreciate it. No hard feelings, kitten.  You come pay us a visit some time. Maybe I’ll find some work for you.” Mrani stopped talking and paused, hesitated for a little, then grumbled as she made up her mind.  She walked over to Lin’qa and rubbed her head, the same way she’d done when Lin’qa had worn the collar.

 

***

 

_ The door clicked shut behind Zagrath, and a moment later, the rasp of a lock shifting around, sealing the two of them inside the room.  Dellie turned her head towards Kitty, and grinned. “Master said I’m in charge while he’s gooooonnneee~” Dellie giggled wickedly. _

 

_ “W-What?  When did he say that?” Kitty pouted, recoiling a little at the assertion. _

 

_ Dellie walked up towards Kitty, an innocent smile on her face.  She got close, maintaining eye contact with Kitty, getting in her face up until the moment that she was so close that Kitty wouldn’t be able to see what she was doing with her hands.  She grabbed Kitty by the balls, and squeezed threateningly, her grin growing as her grip tightened. “Is Kitty being a bad girl? A good bitch doesn’t question what her Mistress tells her.” _

 

_ Dellie had been pushing boundaries with Kitty pretty much non-stop since that first day in the hot springs.  Every time she pushed, she was rewarded with a new thrill. A new hit of power and authority over the other girl.  When she’d heard that Kitty and Rugana had been hurt, and almost killed, she’d worried that she’d never see the other Rakshasa again.  Kitty wasn’t just her bitch, she was her friend. Now, she was going to make sure Kitty didn’t get away. At least, not until Master Zagrath and Momma Rugana got back. _

 

_ “Dellie, I’m no—!”  Kitty stopped talking, and let out a tiny little squeak.  Dellie felt Kitty’s testicles press into the flesh of her palm a little harder as she squeezed. _

 

_ “I’m only Dellie when Master Zagrath or Momma Rugana are around.  When we’re alone, I’m Mistress.” She purred, nuzzling into Kitty’s neck.  Kitty shivered and whined softly as Dellie released her grip, letting her clitty free and giving it a squeeze.  Rather than wait for a response, she opened her mouth and bit down on the sensitive spot on Kitty’s neck, slowly increasing pressure until the other girl’s legs went limp.  She dug her nails into the girls skin just below her collar bone and started to draw them downwards. She moved slowly, every inch her nails moved made Kitty yelp and shiver.  Dellie started to support more and more of her weight as Kitty went limp. Once her bitch was basically not supporting herself at all any more, Dellie dragged her over to the mat on the floor that she slept on. _

 

_ “M-Mistress Dellie?” Kitty asked woozily. Her eyelids fluttered open, shedding a bit of the drunkenness they’d had.   _

 

_ “Nope.” She replied, slapping one of Kitty’s sensitive breasts to making the girl yelp.  “Just Mistress. I was very explicit about that.” _

 

_ “Are you sure we’re allowed to be doing... this?” She murmured, wincing and rubbing the breast that Dellie had just slapped. _

 

_ Dellie giggled wickedly as she squatted over Kitty’s face.  They weren’t really allowed to do this without Master present, but then again, he’d also left the two of them alone in the same room together.  She doubted she’d ever get punished for this. “You just let Mistress worry about that, Kitty. I know what I’m doing.” She hovered there deliberating for several moments, her pussy just inches from Kitty’s tongue.  It wasn’t that tough of a decision, she got her pussy eaten every now and again by the Orcs, and this was less about getting off than it was about dominating Kitty. _

 

_ With a grin, she angled herself forward and lowered her ass down towards Kitty’s face.  Without even delivering a single instruction, Kitty’s tongue darted out past her lips and got to work as soon as her hole got close.  Dellie hummed happily, enjoying the feeling of Kitty’s soft lips and wet, warm tongue. It was so different than having sex with her various Orcish Masters.  With a quiet sigh, she settled a little more of her weight down onto Kitty’s face and got comfortable. She let her gaze travel across Kitty’s body, settling on her puffy pink nipples.  A sly smile crossed her lips and she reached down, filling her palms with the small mounds of flesh that only really looked like breasts when she squeezed them. _

 

_ Her thumb and forefingers captured Kitty’s nipples, and began to slowly knead and tease them.  She was careful to be gentle, and to treat them delicately. She’d squeezed them a little hard when Kitty had first started hormones, and the resulting shriek had brought a guard running.  The response was immediate, Kitty’s tongue languished and its pace slowed. Her lips occasionally lost contact with Dellie’s ass to let out tiny little whimpers and moans. Her hips sporadically bucked forward a little, her clitty twitching.  She didn’t make an effort to touch herself, though, Rugana had trained her too well for that. _

 

_ Sadistic inspiration running through her, Dellie wiggled her hips, grinding her bottom on Kitty’s face.  She started to pinch the nipples that she had captive between her fingertips. Kitty’s reaction took a while to catch up with the change in how Dellie was fondling her.  She grew a little impatient, and tugged a tiny bit harder. Kitty let out a squeak of distress, her hands clenching. The shock didn’t last long though, and she locked her lips back into place, pushing forward with her tongue until the wet little organ penetrated past the ring of muscle.  Kitty began to rim her in earnest, as though if she just licked and sucked hard enough then she could get Dellie to stop squeezing her nipples. It wasn’t the worst idea the other girl had ever had, all things considered. Dellie didn’t stop though, mostly because she didn’t want to. _

 

_ Dellie hissed a little impatiently as her sense of want surged, her desire for stimulation.  She pressed her weight down further on Kitty’s face, smothering the poor girl beneath her. It wasn’t long before Kitty started to squirm and thrash a little bit, and she let her up  “You getting enough air down there, Kitty?” Dellie snickered, and lowered herself back down after Kitty’s gasps slowed down a little. Kitty mumbled out a response that Dellie decided to assume would have been ‘Yes I am, Mistress’ in the absence of a butt on her face. _

 

_ Dellie let go of one of Kitty’s nipples and moved her hand to her own pussy.  Her clit was already swollen and aching with need. She was actually a little surprised at how turned on she was, but she wasn’t going to complain.  She started rubbing it with quick motions, not wasting any time to ramp up the pace. She was beyond foreplay at that point, she wanted to cream herself, _

 

_ “Uuugh.  Yeah, Kitty, suck that asshole.  Make your Mistress cum…” Dellie squealed happily as she started gyrating her hips and bouncing on Kitty’s face like she was fucking herself on a cock.  Her hand on Kitty’s little breast squeezed harder, and she felt a vibration travel through her ass as Kitty screamed. She wasn’t sure if it was the way Kitty was suffering yet still working to please her, or the physical sensation of the girl screaming into her tight, spasming hole that did it, but she shuddered and started to cum all the same.  “Yes! Yes! Such a good… girl…A-Aah!” She didn’t ease up on her jilling, and the high tide she’d been riding on crashed over. _

 

_ She screamed as pleasure overtook her entire body, removing her sense of being grounded, of whether or not she was upright, and her sense of how long it had been since the orgasm had started.  She twitched, jerked, and probably smothered the crap out of Kitty as she came and came and came. Moisture dripped down her thighs as she rode the ecstatic high. Eventually, after what must have been at least a minute, Kitty started to squirm and struggle, and a tiny voice in the back of her orgasm-wracked mind told her that Kitty probably needed to breathe.  She let her weight tip off in one direction, and gravity carried her off of Kitty’s face and onto her side. She heard the other girl cough and gasp softly as she struggled to oxygenate her blood. Dellie just let a goofy smile splay itself across her face. _

  
  


_ *** _

 

The slap hurt, but it wasn't just painful.  It made her ears ring, her world spin, and her stomach heave.  She hit the ground on her hands and knees, but only for a moment. Her momentum and lack of balance or direction in that moment made her collapse. Her face and front impacted with the cold stone of the floor in her Master’s room, her hands acting too slow to brace her properly.

 

The ringing in her ears drowned out the details of her Master’s growly baritone voice, and the reply that came from the fortress’ garrison commander.  With great effort, she got her hands underneath her and pushed herself up onto her knees. As she took a breath, she felt that her lip had swollen up, and a trickle of blood was running down her chin.

 

“It was addressed to Rugana, I think.  Just Rugana” The commander spoke to her Master with a deferential shrug.

 

Master took a step towards her and growled.  “Just addressed to Rugana? You expect me to believe you sent a letter to a dead orcess?”  He reached down, grabbing her half by the ear and half by the hair. He pulled her up into a kneeling position.

 

The vicious yanking of her hair was extremely painful but she didn’t yelp or scream, just winced a little, and looked up into his eyes.  The left side of her vision was a little narrow, and she realized her eye was swelling shut. She’d already told her Master that she had sent the letter to her friend Kitty, because she was worried about her.  It was addressed to Kitty’s Momma, Rugana, because she didn't think that if she addressed it directly to Kitty that it would reach her. Kitty was just a slave like her, after all, she didn’t get mail or letters, not before now.  She’d told him all this, and he hadn’t believed the truth, so she had nothing more to say, really.

 

“Ugh.  Either she’s brain damaged, or too stubborn to talk.  Fuck, I knew I shouldn’t have bought a second hand slave from Chief fucking Zagrath.  He was that cunt Rugana’s lapdog all the way to the grave.” Her Master slapped her again, but this time he lacked the angle to really lay one on hard.  It still sent her back to the ground, disoriented and dazed and in pain. She stayed down, knowing that to rise to her knees again would be seen as an act of defiance.

 

“So what’s the plan, Chief?  We locking her up? Can’t imagine reselling her is a good idea.”

 

Master didn’t respond immediately, but she could hear his footsteps pacing about only a foot or two away from her.  “No. I’m disposing of her. Just need to find a way to do it quietly, don’t need some Clansmeet cunts getting on our case about slaves’ rights just now.  You up for the job?”

 

The garrison commander was silent, but only for a few moments.  “Yeah, I think I can handle that. Take her out in the hills, tonight.  Make it look like she fell down a cliff.” His delayed response didn’t sound like he was agonizing over the morality of the request, it sounded like he was just thinking about the details.

 

The numbness that had subsumed her since her old Master’s death faltered, for just a moment.  When she’d met her new Master, she’d almost immediately lost hope that he’d be as nice to her as Master Zagrath had.  She resigned herself to another cruel owner. More abuse, more recrimination for simple things more as a means of stress relief than because she was expected to do better.  She’d buried her hopes, thinking that maybe the next Master would be nice, again. That maybe this was the pattern. One nice, one mean. Now, though, that numbness, that resignation was melting away.  Master was going to throw her away. Kill her for a misunderstanding. Because he refused to believe that she could have a friend. She  _ did _ have a friend.  Kitty was her friend.

 

She struggled with the feelings of anger and betrayal, even as she was gagged, bound, and thrown into the back of a steam cart.  She’d never been angry before. What use was anger to a slave? She’d never felt betrayed before. What loyalty could a slave expect of her owner?  She was feeling these emotions now, knew them by how they’d been described to her, but she had no idea what to do with them.

 

When the steam cart stopped, the air had a bit of a chill to it, and she heard the commander moving around outside.  He hauled her out of the cart, and put her on her feet. She stood, even though she wasn’t sure how she was managing it.  The blindfold was taken off her eyes, and then the gag released. He unbound her wrists, but kept a tight grip on her arm.  She knew she wasn’t being released. This was just so that he could make it look like an accident. So that her death would not be an  _ inconvenience _ .

  
  


_ Dellie’s afterglow waned a enough for her to flip over and possessively spoon Kitty. She tightened her arms around Kitty’s stomach, squeezing until the other girl squawked a little.  She giggled at the girl’s discomfort and nuzzled the back of her neck. “Mmm, that was really fun, Kitty. I was really worried when I heard you were hurt that I wouldn’t be able to do stuff like this with you.” _

 

_ “De–Mistress, I’m fine, really.  It was just a burn. Momma got it way worse than I did.” Kitty sighed, her tone absolutely oozing sexual frustration.  Well, Dellie would just have to fuck her bitch later as a reward for doing such a good job. _

 

_ “No modesty! You were really brave~” She sing-songed, grabbing Kitty’s puffy nipples and squeezing until she gasped.  “And you killed bad guys, too! How’d you even do that?” _

 

_ “I, uhh… magic?  You know, you’re wearing the shackles too.  One of mine broooooo— Gah!” Kitty’s voice became really shrill as Dellie squeezed especially hard, just to see how she would react. _ __   
  


_ “Well, yeah, but I don’t actually know how to use magic.  Nobody ever taught me.” Dellie relented and let Kitty’s poor sensitive nipples go with a giggle, nuzzling into the back of her neck. _

 

_ “Oh… yeah, I guess your family… err… Yeah, nobody taught you, huh?” _

 

_ “Nuh-uh.” Dellie crawled forward a little, getting slightly on top of Kitty’s prone form.  She rested her chin on Kitty’s shoulders until the two of them could almost look one another in the eye.  “You could teach me though, right?” _

 

_ “Umm… I dunno.  That really doesn’t seem like a gooOOD...!” Kitty’s voice became high pitched as Dellie dug her nails into her breasts again.  Kitty was her bitch. That meant she wasn’t allowed to say no to her. _

 

_ “Teach meee~” She giggled in Kitty’s ears, not relenting on the nails.  She wasn't mad. she knew Kitty would give in if she just applied a little pressure. _

 

_ “I… Okay! Okay Mistress, I will!” Kitty whined, squirming and trying in vain to get free. _

 

Daliyah hissed at the orc, releasing the illusion that made her plain iron shackles look like they were still suppressing her magic.  She’d been holding that illusion for so long that she hadn’t thought about it in decades. His eyes went wide for a second, but that was all the reaction he could muster before Daliyah conjured her magic again, this time shaping not an illusion, but a corporeal construct.  It wasn’t a weapon like how Kitty had taught her, it was just a crescent shaped object that was sharp enough to cut. Kitty had told her the shape was important for actually using and controlling these constructs, and so using a real weapon was better, or easier. Right now though, she was beyond the nuances of the lessons she’d been taught decades ago, and never put into practice.  Perhaps if she’d been in a clearer mindset, she’d have remembered why her creation should be shaped this way or that, but right now it was just a conduit for her rage. She willed the construct forward, and the commander only managed to let out a surprised shout before the construct cut deeply into his chest. She pressed on it harder, trying to cut the vile Orc in two, but it got snagged halfway through.  In spite of how much force she was trying to exert upon the construct, she only succeeded in tearing and wrenching on the wound. A very gruesome sounding burble came out of the Orc’s mouth, and he brought his arm down on the construct. The thin, crescent shape broke in two under the blow, and Dailyah’s mental pushing caused it to splinter further into shards that buried themselves deeper in his chest before they winked out of existence. He took only one step forward before he collapsed, wheezing weakly, his arm outstretched towards her.  Daliyah let the broken construct go, and exhaled the breath that she realized she’d been holding.

 

She stared at him.  At what she’d done. She fell to her knees, trembling. Sharp pebbles and twigs dug into her legs, but it may as well have been happening to someone else, for all she truly noticed.  She was crying, but she didn’t know why. She hadn’t lost anything. She’d hated this orc. She’d just defended herself, saved herself from death. And yet, the first sob still came unhindered.  She wailed into the cold night air. A scream louder and more emotive than she would have let out if she’d let the orc kill her.

 

“Pl..ea…” He groaned weakly, his fingers clutching at the loose dirt and stones.  Daliyah scowled at him, and then walked over and angrily kicked at his head. The weak blow didn’t do much to the orc, but it did twist two of her toes at a strange angle, making her gasp in pain.  She backed up, bending her knee and balancing on her other foot so that she could reach down and squeeze her bruised toes. The orc’s breathing slowed, and then stopped on its own. She stared at him for several long minutes, as if afraid that he was faking and would pounce her at any moment.  The bloodstain spread across the dirt and rocks for the first little while before it stopped. Eventually, the wind swept the first traces of the scent of death to her nose, and she allowed herself to walk closer to the orc. He’d have money on him, almost certainly.

 

She grabbed his coin pouch, a dagger, and a set of keys to a completely unknown set of locks.  Probably nothing she’d ever need to unlock, but who knew. She considered stealing all of his clothes, but the pants and the shirt were ruined, and the shoes wouldn’t fit her in a million years.  Besides, he was lying on them. The cloak only had a few spots of red around the edges, and she was able to get it off him fairly easily. She wrapped the unpleasant thing around herself to stave off the chill that was seeping into her naked form.  She was still naked,  _ and _ collared.  It didn’t bother her, but it would identify her as a slave to any in the Fifty Clans.  Illusions. She was a Rakshasa, illusions were her birthright. She channeled magic and started to craft herself an illusionary outfit.  Skirt, blouse, shoes. It looked awful, not even like a real set of clothes. She dispelled the magic, and tried again. And again, and again.  With a frustrated growl, she went over to the steam cart and sat down to keep trying. It took her three hours to create something that looked both passable and like something someone important would wear.  She wanted to practice more, make something that might stand up to stricter scrutiny. After the first hour, she’d realized that having a perfect illusionary outfit wouldn’t do her much good if they came looking for the orc she’d killed and found her standing over his body.  This compromise was good enough. As she started the steam cart up again to drive down the hill, she felt her swollen eye throbbing. It had probably been doing that for hours, she just hadn’t noticed. She quickly crafted another illusion to cover up her eye and make it look normal, and then started driving.

 

She drove the steam cart back most of the way to the city.  She parked and ditched the stolen cart just outside the city limits and walked the rest of the way.  For the most part, nobody was around in the streets at this time. She silently slid through the darkened streets, avoiding any contact and approaching the docks.  Everything was closed and empty except the docks, which would be open 24/7 to process incoming and outgoing traffic. 

 

“Yeah?” A sleepy Orcess asked her as she approached the gates.

 

Daliyah exhaled slowly, and considered not just her words, but her tone, her attitude.  “You have a ship leaving for Lek in this Goddess-forsaken little place?” She half-asked and half-stated with a demanding scowl and crossed arms.  She slipped into the new demeanor effortlessly, like putting on a pair of shoes.

 

The Orcess didn’t scowl at her, or tell her to piss off.  She straightened up, and gave herself a little shake. “Yeah, I think… Yeah, Captain Maruk is leaving this morning.”

 

“And where exactly is…”  Daliyah heaved a heavy sigh and rubbed her temples in mock annoyance.  “Nevermind, just take me there.”

 

It was almost comical, watching the colour drain out of the orcess’ face for a few moments while she decided what to do.  “Right, it’s not far, follow me.” She opened the gates and let her in. The trip to the dock she wanted was short, it was just inside the fence.  “I don’t think he’s here right now. They’re scheduled for take off in three hours, so…”

 

Daliyah cut her off with a dismissive wave and approached the doors.  She knocked, and waited, crossing her arms and scowling at the door. There was a scuffle from inside, something fell off a shelf, and then a moment later, the door opened.  A young, gangly orc with a ridiculous mohawk peeked his head out the door, wearing a sheet. “Uhh. Hi?”

 

“Captain Maruk?” she asked with a disdainful look and a sneer.

 

“Yeah.  Let me… give me a second, let me pants.”  He slammed the door in her face, and she heard footsteps.  She considered aborting the plan; maybe he’d recognized her.  Then again, if she just disappeared, they’d call the garrison.  If the garrison searched for more than an hour, they’d find the cart she’d left outside the city.  Before she could decide, the door opened again, and the scrawny orc was there, wearing pants this time, trying to stand up straight.

 

“Hello!  Hi. Maruk Grimnka.  What can I… who are you?”  He squinted at her, as if seeing her for the first time.

 

“Someone who is losing money every unnecessary minute she spends on this plane.  Can this hunk of junk get me to Lek or not?” She put her hands on her hips and puffed herself up.

 

“Well, Yeah, ‘course.  We ain't really a passenger ship though.  But, uhh… wait, you can pay, right?” Maruk flipped his greasy hair out of his face and frowned at her skeptically.  When Daliyah got a better look at his face she saw that he must have some human in his gene pool not terribly far back.  He was beyond scrawny, for an orc, and even had some fairly small tusks.

 

Daliyah grabbed the money she’d tied to her cloak and withdrew ten coins. There was only twenty in the pouch, but she had no idea what they were worth.  When she held the money out towards him, his eyes went wide, so she knew it was more than enough. “Can you get me off this stinking pile of rocks.” She hissed out the words like they were acid.

 

“Yes! The ship is just me and my ‘cuz y’know, we could take off a bit… Hey! Bruce! Get your lazy pink ass up, we’re leaving early!” He turned his head in towards the interior of the ship and yelled, and then stepped back to let her inside.  “Nice to have you aboard, miss…” He extended his hand towards her.

 

“Daliyah.  House Talla.” She didn't take his hand, and instead regarded it like the fangs of an asp.  Talla was actually Kitty’s family name, but she didn't know what her own was or how to make up a believable sounding one.  When she set foot inside, she couldn't help but think that this persona of hers wouldn't trust this thing not to fall out of the sky, but she knew it was the safest risk for her to take.

 

“The fuck are you-- Oh. Passenger?” Bruce stumbled out of one of the doors, and Daliyah saw that if Maruk had a little human in his orc genes, then Bruce had only a little orc in his human.

 

“Yeah. She's paying us to leave AFAP, so do your engine check.” Maruk bossed his cousin around while Daliyah took a seat on an empty crate next to a window since there was no actual room for her to stay in.  Before long, the engine hummed and rumbled, and the ship vibrated as it began to rise up into the sky. As they rose, Daliyah saw the first glimpse of dawn come up over the horizon. She breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a little.

 

“Hey, Lady Talla, we’re transiting through the breach into the Astral plane soon, there will be a little turbulence.”  Captain Maruk approached her, but he sounded like he was in a hurry.

 

“This shouldn’t shock you, Captain, but I’ve traversed planes before.  Just keep this thing in the air, I can handle it.” It was technically true, she’d lived in the Wild plane a very long time ago.  She remembered a village with grey stone buildings, a stream, a big water wheel that she’d been told to stay away from. One day she hadn’t, and something had happened but… memories from back then were so fuzzy.  Maruk left her alone. He probably picked up on the fact that she was nervous, but definitely wouldn’t have picked up on why.

 

The breach they approached was a long, discoloured slash of sickly gray in the blue sky.  She furrowed her brow and stared at it, as they approached. She hadn’t been quite sure what to expect.  It grew larger, revealing the dark green sky of the Astral plane, cut with with ashy gray clouds. They passed through the rift with a bit of a shake that made Daliyah’s stomach turn, but she kept her composure.  When they approached and descended towards Lek, Maruk gave her no warning at all about the landing. The loud screeching noise and the violent shudder sent her sprawling onto her ass with a yelp.

 

“What the fuck!” Bruce yelled from the depths of the ship, and Maruk yelled something indistinguishable right back.

 

“It’s fine!  It’s fine, I got it handled.  Err, Miss, you okay?” Maruk’s voice had moved and was right above her. Daliyah rose to her feet, rubbing her head where she’d banged it on the floor.  She felt something slip from her a tiny bit, and with a start, she reached for it, and grabbed ahold of it before it got far. Her magic had almost slipped away, the illusion would have faltered if it had.

 

“Yes.  Just… get me off this pile of crap and into the city,” Daliyah grumbled, doing her best to keep up the attitude.  Maruk smiled nervously, and ran off to do something, presumably what Daliyah had told him.

 

Ten minutes later, she was on the streets of Lek, Maruk and his brother left behind to fix their airship.  She breathed a sigh of relief, and sat down on the edge of one of the roads, her head in her hands. She knew that the dangerous part was over.  She’d made it, all she really needed to do now was drag herself across the finish line to. She’d get there, but she just… needed a moment to gather her thoughts.  Well, to gather her thoughts and to actually come up with a plan or a destination.

“You alright there?” a thin, flutey voice asked her.  She looked up at a short, stocky Astral elf. She had a basket full of fruit hanging off one arm and a young child holding on to her other hand..

 

“I, uhh…”  She stared at the woman blankly for a few moments.  “No. No I’m not.”

 

“I figured as much.  Is it your Husband? Boyfriend?”  She sounded sad, but also practiced and familiar in a strange way.

 

Daliyah looked up at her, a tad confused.  “Is… what my husband?”

 

“You’ve got a nasty looking black eye there, honey.  Did he hit you?”

 

Daliyah put her hand up to her face.  She must have lost the illusion covering that up.  When had that happened? Had Maruk noticed, and just not cared, or had it slipped from her just very recently?  She had no way of knowing, and it was too late to do anything about it now. “Not my husband, but… something like that.”

 

The woman sighed softly.  It was a distressed noise, one of empathy and compassion, and Daliyah wasn't sure how she was supposed to react to it.  “I know it’s hard to get away, sometimes, but… Maybe you should get out of the city, for a little? I’m sure the Rakshasa Embassy would help you, if it’s that bad.”

 

Daliyah blinked with her one good eye.  She hadn’t realized that there was an embassy here.  “Would they… help me?” she asked.

 

“Doesn’t hurt to ask.  You know, we’re going in that direction right now, you can tag along if you want.”

 

“That would… That’d be nice, thank you.” Daliyah smiled in relief, and rose to her feet.  She felt the subtle nagging of the illusion she was still wearing, the magic demanding that she maintain it.  It was annoying, and she honestly just wanted to be able to walk around naked without people bothering her, but she knew that wouldn’t happen.

 

“What’s your name?” The girl asked her as they started walking through the city.  She was walking backwards, her arm twisted so that she could still hold her mother’s hand and look at Daliyah who was lagging behind the two of them.

 

“Daliyah,” she answered with a small smile, not really sure what else to do.  She’d never interacted with a child before.

 

“Pretty!  Kitties have the prettiest names!” The girl giggled excitedly, giving Daliyah a huge smile.

 

“Sweetie, they’re Rakshasa, don’t call them kitties, they don’t like that.  Sorry, miss, she’s young and doesnt know better.” The woman gave her an apologetic look and offered her a smile.

 

“It’s… no problem?”  Daliyah blinked. She’d been called cat, kitty, pussy, kitten, and all sorts of things pretty much all her life and never thought twice about it.  Rakshasa didn’t like being called these things? She wondered if maybe she should care, too.

 

Less than ten minutes later, the woman had pointed her at a building down the street, and led her daughter inside their house.  It looked like a miniature palace, a tall building made out of gray stone that filled her with a sense of unplaceable nostalgia.  

 

The guard at the door was of course another Rakshasa, like her.  He was a little bit taller than her, with spotty, dark orange colours.  He was reclining against the wall, his body relaxed. When she got a little nearer his eyes flickered towards her, a curious expression in them.  She didn’t quite get within ten meters of him before his nostrils flared, and his eyebrows shot up in alarm.

 

“Hey!” He shouted, bolting up into a straight posture.  A quartet of phantasmal swords sprung into existence next to him and fanned out around him, pointing at her threateningly.  Daliyah stopped in her tracks, raising her hands in an act of de-escalation. “Drop the illusions before you take even one more step towards the door,” he instructed.

 

Daliyah was a bit surprised, but it made sense.  Kitty had always had a bit of an odd scent about her after she’d started putting illusions on her bands.  With a shrug, she dropped her own illusions, letting herself stand naked in the streets, still wearing the bands and collar of a slave.  The guard’s eyes went wide, and the weapons faltered a little bit, their tips pointing down towards the ground.

 

“I.. wha…” He spluttered, blushing and looking away.  “This some kind of joke? Who set you up to… what’s that collar?”  He snuck several glances at her as he spoke.

 

“I’m an escaped slave.  Can you help me?” She asked, ignoring the question, since the answer was pretty obvious.  

 

“Oh.  Yeah, sure, come here, we’ll get you some clothes.”  He waved her forward, his face still a bright crimson colour as he opened the door and yelled at someone inside to bring a set of clothes.  She approached, and he let her inside where another Rakshasa in the same uniform held out a cloak for her.

 

“Here, wear this for now.  What’s your name?” The other one asked her, a soft expression on her face.

 

“Daliyah. Daliyah Talla.”    She answered, not hesitating for a second.  The two security officers frowned at her, and then gave each other a worried look.

 

“...Talla?” The first one repeated.

 

“Yes?” Daliyah asked, confused.

 

“I… err… I’m gonna go find the ambassador.  You find... Miss Talla someplace to stay, alright?”  The second officer gave her a long look, and then took off at a brisk trot.

 

She was taken to a little bedroom that was one of the nicest rooms she’d ever seen.  Not as big as Master’s or Momma Rugana’s rooms, but it was tastefully decorated, clean, and tidy.  Most importantly, there were no gods damned animal pelts on the wall.

 

The officer who’d come with her gave her a change of clothes, and while he didn’t leave her alone, he did turn his back so that she could change.  Daliyah couldn’t care less about people seeing her naked, but she didn’t make a fuss about it and went about putting the clothes on. It was actually a rather difficult task, she hadn’t worn clothes since she was a kitten, and the soft fabric felt oppressive and restrictive against her skin.  The pants she got on just fine, but she struggled with the tunic and eventually growled at it in frustration, turning to her escort for help.

 

“Can you show me how this works?” She asked, annoyed.

 

The officer turned, a little startled, and let out a tiny, breathy chuckle.  “Uhh… You’ve got your head in the arm… here, let me help.” He came over to her and twisted the garment a little, and it slid on smoothly.  Daliyah squirmed from within the confines of the cloth; it still felt uncomfortable and oppressive.

 

“Thank you.  It’s been over a century since I wore clothes,” she said with a sigh, running her hands over the fabric in a vain attempt to get it to feel ‘right.’

 

“Century?” What’s that?” He asked, frowning in confusion.

 

Daliyah frowned back at him for a moment, before something stirred in her memory.  Kitty had been like that too, she was always confused at how days and years and, just how time in general seemed to work.  She’d always assumed it was just because Kitty was a little bit of a ditz but maybe there was more to it.

 

“It’s one hundred years,” She answered, giving him a small smile, trying not to be patronizing.  She wondered about that. Should she try not to be patronizing? How was she supposed to act around these people? What would they expect of her?

 

Recognition sparked in his eyes when she used the word ‘years’.  “Oh! PriMat time. Is that where you were being held? We measure in Celestial Cycles here.”

 

Celestial Cycles.  That did sound vaguely familiar to her, actually.  Before she could answer, a knock came at the door, and her escort turned sharply towards it.  He bid the person outside to come in, and the door opened, revealing the other security officer and another Rakshasa female.  Daliyah’s eyes widened when she saw the person who had to be the ‘Ambassador.’ She was dressed exquisitely in a long green dress with the sides split at her hips.  It hugged her subtle chest closely, and had two short sleeves leaving most of her arms bare with a jeweled silver armlet on display. Her colours were pure, snowy white, and her eyes were a striking jade green that she recognized.  She looked like a taller, curvier, more mature version of Kitty.

 

“Goddess’ Mercy,” She hissed softly when she saw Daliyah, her eyes snapping to the heavy iron collar on her neck.  She stepped past the security guard and walked right up to Daliyah. She placed her hand delicately on the back of her neck and looked at the collar, an expression halfway between fury and mortification on her face.  “Is that locked? Turn around for me, dear.” Daliyah was a little stunned, but did what the woman asked. The Ambassador tugged a little on the collar from behind, and let out an annoyed ‘tsk’ when it didn’t budge. “Thais, go into town and find a blacksmith who can break this lock and get this thing off of her.”

 

“Yes, Ambassador,” The first security officer bowed to the regal woman.  “She has bands on her arms and legs too, I saw them when she, erm… when she got here.  I’ll let them know we need those off too?”

 

The woman frowned at the officer, and then placed her hand on Daliyah’s wrist, running her fingers up the length of the shirt until she encountered the remnants of the magic-suppressing band.  She let out an annoyed grunt when she felt it. “Yes, these are coming off, too.” She scowled at the offending piece of metal. “These are the magic suppressing kind, yes?” she asked, looking Daliyah in the eye.

 

“Used to be.  They’re just metal now, the runes are… We got rid of them. It’s why I’m alive.” Daliyah looked down at the bands as she spoke.  She’d been in such a hurry to proceed with her ‘next step’ that she hadn’t thought about it that way. Kitty had saved her life.

 

The woman sighed, and rubbed her spot just above the bridge of her nose with her thumb.  Daliyah smiled a little, she’d seen Kitty do that a few times. “Fucking slavers, honestly.  What was your name? Where are you from?”

 

“My name is Daliyah. I don’t know where I’m from.” 

 

“Family name? I can find out where you’re from with that.”

 

“Talla.”  Daliyah answered without hesitation, and realized immediately afterwards that using Kitty’s last name here might not exactly work out the way it had with Captain Maruk.

 

The woman looked at her, frowning silently for several moments and studying Daliyah’s expression like there was some kind of hidden meaning there that was waiting to be deciphered  “Are you… joking?” She finally asked, her voice clearly not finding any humour in the situation.

 

“No, it’s my friend’s name, I decided to use it.  I just answered without thinking.” Daliyah shrugged, her expression neutral.  There was so much information here in this exchange. So much nuance and hidden meaning but she didn't know what to do with any of it.

 

Daliyah’s answer didn’t seem to clear up the woman’s questions, she just frowned deeper and looked even more confused.  “...Allow me to introduce myself, I am Lady Talvizsa Talla. I am the Ambassador of the Unified Rakshasa Families, here in Lek.”

 

“Oh.  Do you have a daughter, or maybe a niece?  Maybe she’s my friend, Kitty.” Daliyah smiled a little, pleasantly surprised to have stumbled across a member of Kitty’s family.  She wondered why Kitty never told her that she was from an important family.

 

Talvizsa let out the longest, most exasperated sigh Daliyah had ever heard.  She walked over to a nearby chair, and slumped down into it, grumbling to herself and rubbing that spot above the bridge of her nose.  Her left ear twitched. “Lamiran, find someone to bring me some alcohol,” she said with a sigh, and the other guard in the room nodded wordlessly and left the two of them alone.  She spoke after a long pause with a sense of finality in her voice that said that she knew what the answer was. “I have a son who probably told you he’s a girl. Looks like me, but with little black stripes in his colours?” 

 

“Yeah, that’s her.” Daliyah frowned.  If Kitty had told her mother she was a girl, why was she acting this way?

 

“Kitty.  Is that what he told you his name was? Goddess above, what is wrong with that boy.  Where is he?” She was starting to sound a little upset now, and was glaring at Daliyah past the hand on her forehead.

 

“Well, Kitty is what her Owner named her.  I haven’t seen her for a while, but she was in the Singing Spears’ capital in the Fifty Clans.” Daliyah kept her calm as she answered, but she was beginning to suspect that Kitty didn’t talk much about her Mother not because she didn’t remember, but because of… well, this.

 

Talvizsa’s arm snapped down to her side, and her eyes went wide.  “Owner!? He’s… an Orc’s slave?”

 

“Last I saw her, she was,” Daliyah frowned a little at Talvizsa’s insistence on calling Kitty ‘he.’  She doubted that she’d make a lot of progress if she picked a fight over it, but she knew how much it bothered Kitty to be called that.

 

“That Devil, he told us that he’d been grabbed by Orcs… Fuck.”  Talvizsa groaned, closing her eyes. “Unbelievable…” she muttered.

 

Daliyah went over to the bed and sat down, spending several moments fiddling with the clothes that were being weird and bunching up in places.  She waited patiently for Talvizsa to continue her thought process, or to end the conversation. She knew better than to interrupt people like Talvizsa when they were like this.  Don’t upset the Masters or the Mistresses when they’re muttering to themselves. She realized what she was doing, as Talvizsa was finishing gathering up her thoughts. She didn’t like it.  Those were Dellie’s thoughts. Dellie’s survival techniques. Fuck that, Dellie was  _ gone  _ and Daliyah would die before she let herself become Dellie again.

 

“Daliyah, I’m going to need to go talk to some people.  Can I ask you to keep this detail about my son between us?” Talvizsa finally spoke, looking over at her, a resigned, drained expression on her face.

 

“What’re you gonna do about her?” Daliyah asked.  Her voice and her hands trembled a little. She was angry.  What was she supposed to do with anger? What was the best way to put it to use?

 

“I have no idea.  The family has moved on without he– without  _ him _ .  Felida rose to the occasion and she’s been incredibly capable.  But, I can’t just pretend everything’s okay, if Lin’qa is… ugh.”  Talvizsa had a gloomy expression, like she’d just been given bad news.  It didn’t make any sense to Daliyah, she’d just been told her child was alive.

 

“...Her name is Lin’qa?” Daliyah asked.

 

Talvizsa looked over at her with a tiny frown.  “Do you really have to indulge him with that nonsense about being a girl?   It’s not good for him, you know.”

 

Finally, Daliyah frowned right back at Talvizsa.  “The Orcess who owns her thinks she knows what’s good for her, too.  I knew them both pretty well.” Momma Rugana, Daliyah almost called her that, but she managed to stop herself before she called her that.  She was just Rugana, though, and what right did she have to own Lin’qa? This was all so confusing, Daliyah wasn’t sure what to make of it all.

 

Talvizsa was quiet for a moment, before she let out a sigh, looking away from Daliyah.  “Alright, whatever. I’ll come by to talk later. Someone will drop off some food, and we’ll get a blacksmith to get those irons off you as soon as we can.  Get some rest, dear.”

 

After she left, Daliyah smiled a little, laying down on the bed.  “Lin’qa…” she murmured to herself as she stared up at the ceiling.  She’d known that Kitty couldn’t have been her real name, but she’d never thought about it past that.

 

“Nice to meet you, Lin’qa.  I’m Daliyah.”

 

***

 

Lin’qa felt bad to be doing this behind Laniwyn’s back.  She hadn’t told her friend anything about what her real intentions were.  She hadn’t even really meant to travel to Lek  _ with _ her, but when she’d told her she was going, she’d just… come along.  Laniwyn had said that she needed a change of scenery herself, and that Lin’qa needed someone to keep an eye on her.  Well, she was here, doing this, so maybe she was right about that last part.

 

The Tenth Hell was closed, and would be for another hour or two.  As her hand touched the black metal door, she paused, and her gaze wandered.  She could see the roof of the estate she’d spend all of ten minutes in, all those years ago.  Her family wasn’t there anymore. She’d asked where the Rakshasa embassy was, and found out that her family had bought some land on the other side of the city.  Still, it was disquieting to see,like a ghost from her past.

 

She pushed the door open quietly, and slipped inside.  It smelled… clean inside. She’d never noticed that, the first time she’d been in here. Part of her wondered if Go’a and his crew would be watching the building.  They’d snatch her back up again, like she was in a time loop. It Wouldn’t be so bad, if they sold her back to Momma. She could have another forty years with her, that way.  But Momma was gone, and Go’a probably was too. 

 

**_We’re closed.  Come back in an hour,”_ ** The fiery voice rumbled from behind the bar.

 

“I know. I saw the sign.” Lin’qa spoke softly as she closed the door behind her and approached the bar.  She got close, but not so close that the big Devil wouldn’t be able to see her; the bar was taller than she was, after all.

 

Zhrek’ahalle swivelled, his crimson eyes going wide.   **_“You…! You’re…”_ ** He moved with a speed and grace that seemed like it should be impossible for a being of his size, rounding the bar and kneeling down before her.   **_“Meph’s tit. that night.  The ambush. I tried to contact your family about the kidnapping but they refused to listen to me.”_ **

 

“Yeah, I kind of figured.  Bet mother was convinced that I just ran away, huh?” Lin’qa sighed softly.  It felt weird to call Talvizsa her mother. She hadn’t thought of the woman that way in almost four decades.  Three and a half celestial cycles. She was going to have to stop thinking in PriMat time. They didn’t measure time in days and years here.  They used… a sensible calendar… She felt a tear running down her cheek when she remembered all the arguments she’d had with Momma over that stupid calendar.

 

**_“She did.  I tried to save you.  Took one of the brutes apart but they hit me with envenomed crossbow quarrels and scattered.  I was sick for weeks.”_ ** Zhrek’ahalle sighed, sounding like he was reliving his failure.

 

“I know,” Lin’qa smiled and rested her hand on the massive Devil’s knee.  The rough leathery skin barely felt like living tissue under her fingertips.  “I came here to thank you. And to apologize for not paying my tab.”

 

Zhrek’ahalle snorted, two little plumes of flame darting towards her face but dissipating before she even felt the heat.   **_“You’ve been a captive this entire time? I think we can consider your tab settled, little cat.  I am glad you escaped. Your fate has been a thorn in my heart for a long time.”_ **

 

“I didn’t escape.  Momma died, and they let me go free.  Said it’s what she would have wanted, and I think they’re right.”  Lin’qa sniffled sadly. She still missed Rugana terribly, and the short time since her passing was nowhere near enough time for the hole in her life to heal.

 

**_“Hmm… ‘tis only natural to grow accustomed to one’s captors, little kitten.  Do not feel bad, it is a survival mechanism. Are you going to the Palace? I insist on escorting you there if so.”_ **  He sounded a little off-put by her confession, but she didn’t care.  She wouldn’t be ashamed of the time she’d spent at Momma’s side.

 

“No.  My sister set up the whole thing.  Tipped off the kidnappers. She’s been stealing the family’s property and selling it for herself.  I want to take her down but I can’t just go back to my family and snap my fingers. She’s spent the last four celestial cycles cementing herself as the family heir.  I’ve supposedly spent that time gallivanting around the PriMat or something.” She felt a dark pit of determination grow in her stomach as she spoke. It felt so odd to be doing this.  To be taking direction in her life, guiding  _ herself _ on a path.  She didn’t even know if this was the path she wanted, but it was the only thing she had.  There was nothing else in her life, now that Momma was gone. “Do you know any Devils who would be willing to accept an exchange of services?  I need a shapeshifter.”

 

Zhrek’ahalle was quiet for a moment, and he leaned back, a low rumble of a sigh echoing through his chest.   **_“I do, little  kitten, but that is a dark and dangerous path to walk.  Are you certain you want this name? The reality of the price you will pay is almost certainly far more taxing than what you are imagining right now.”_ **

 

“Positive.”  She would not back down.  Momma never backed down.

 

**_“You are a cruel creature, little Lin’qa.  To pluck that thorn of yours out of my heart only to replace it with another a moment later.  Very Well. The Erinyes’ name is Zhass’roalle. My Sister.”_ **   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Erinyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They/Them pronouns are used in this chapter, deal with it.

The garden was nestled behind the Rakshasa embassy so close to the streets that Daliyah could hear people passing by on the street through the wall.  The little sanctum was beautiful, housing tall trees with pale blue foliage, and various other exotic and well-groomed flora. The flowers and plants were so perfect they looked like they were the result of someone’s meticulous obsession, there was no way an underpaid gardener had accomplished all of this.  It was the trees that Daliyah couldn’t help but stare at, however. They were so familiar, and she’d seen them before, but she couldn’t place exactly where. That was what was making her so sad just now, the fact that her past and childhood were so distant that she couldn’t remember where she’d seen these trees before.

 

She walked over to one of them and placed her hand on the trunk.  It was smooth as glass and if it wasn’t strangely warm, she wouldn't have known it was alive at all.  She turned around and sank to the ground, resting on the grass with her back to the tree, enjoying the warmth nestled into her back.  Was this something she’d done, before? It did seem familiar.

 

She conjured, drawing on her magic and starting to evocate something.  She made a very simple knife, and let it hover there in the air in front of her.  The pale yellow, translucent object felt almost like a part of herself, and moved as though it was an extension of her body.  She watched it float and spin at her whim, moving it with no clear intention other than just to see what she could make it do.

 

“If you were taught magic, we can trace your teacher back to a noble family.  We can find out where you’re from.” Daliyah looked up and saw Talvizsa approaching her.  The older woman’s eyes flickered to the collar around Dellie’s neck, and her nose wrinkled like she’d smelled something unpleasant.  “Blacksmith hasn’t arrived, yet?”

 

“Nope,” Daliyah shrugged.  She wasn’t especially eager to get the collar off, so long as she got it off eventually.  It didn’t bother her so much as it was an impediment.

 

“Who taught you magic.  Do you remember?” Talvizsa came a little closer, reaching out and inspecting the leaves of a nearby fern.

 

Daliyah laughed softly.  “Yeah, Lin’qa did. I made her teach me.  It’s how I was able to escape.”

 

Talvizsa looked over at Daliyah, frowning like she’d done something immoral.  After a brief stare, she gave out a resigned sigh. Daliyah had noticed that Talvizsa gave those out quite often.  “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised or angry, with all that’s happened to you. Lin isn’t  _ supposed _ to be teaching just anybody magic.  Noble lines all maintain their own specific magical teachings and traditions.  You’re  _ supposed _ to undergo a ceremony pledging your fealty to House Talla before we teach you our traditions…”  Talvizsa sighed and looked up at the sickly green sky. She wrinkled her nose a little, like she was mulling over an unpleasant idea.  “You used our magic to escape captivity, then?”

 

“I suppose.  I created one of these like Lin’qa taught me to kill my jailer.  I made an illusion the way she taught me to cover up the collar and the bands, afterwards.”

 

Talvizsa let out a resigned sigh, and crossed her arms, frowning.  “Well… that  _ could _ be a problem, but tell you what, dear, I’ll overlook all of our magic you’ve used up until today.  Hmm… Maybe we can officially make you one of our Dreamers, if you’re willing to work for us. It’d be a bit of a bending of the rules, I suppose but that never stopped me.”

 

“I don’t know what a Dreamer is, Miss.  To be honest, I’m not sure if I really want to work for your family, I want to try and find Lin’qa and make sure she’s okay.”  Daliyah said it and blinked a little, confused at her own words. She was going to try and track Lin’qa down? She hadn’t honestly thought twice about what she was going to do, but the words just fell out of her mouth and she realized they were true.  That was the plan, or at least, it was now.

 

“You know… I think I can work with that idea.”  Talvizsa looked over at her, smiling slyly like Daliyah had just inspired her.  “Dreamers are servants and protectors of the family. You can be Lin’s guardian and keep him out of trouble for us.  Otherwise you’ll have to refrain from practicing magic, casting spells without the familial association of the House that taught you will brand you as a ‘Feral Rakshasa.’  I’d hate to see something like that happen to you, given your… extreme circumstances.”

 

“And… what happens if I’m branded a Feral?”  Daliyah frowned, not liking the implication. She didn’t like the idea of being branded as anything, not again.

 

“It’s a criminal offence.  You’d have to live outside of U.R.F. influence or try to claim asylum elsewhere.  Ultimately, it would be House Talla prosecuting you, since you’d be appropriating our intellectual property.  But that ugliness aside, I really don’t want to threaten you, dear. I’ll overlook your use of Talla magical traditions to escape your captivity no matter what you decide.  If you choose not to take me up on this offer, then I’m afraid I’ll see any further use of my family’s magic as a Feral act. Please don’t force my hand on that.” Talvizsa’s voice became chilly and not threatening, but not indulgent either.  Daliyah was beginning to see that Talvizsa was a woman who could pivot on a coin.

 

Daliyah dismissed the corporeal knife, and gave Talvizsa a very dishonest warm smile.  “Thank you, Ambassador. Can I have some time to think it over?”

 

“Of course.  Go spend an entire Cycle travelling the multiverse and then come back to us and give your decision.  As far as I’m concerned, so long as you don’t use our magic without an oath then we have no problem. Enjoy the garden, dear, I’m going to go see about that blacksmith.  The sight of that ghastly collar offends me.”

 

***

 

Lin’qa let out a little sigh as she inspected the banged up little airship, if it could even be called an airship.  The vessel was basically just a gravstone engine with a room and basic controls attached to it. It was actually exactly what she was looking for, she didn’t need anything fancy.  More pragmatically, on her budget she wouldn’t be able to afford anything more. Now that she was seeing it, though, she was having second thoughts about trusting her life to the hunk of junk.

 

“I know she’s a lil banged up, but she’s been flying great for years.”  The orc, or, maybe three-quarter orc who was selling it put a hand on it and smiled proudly at her.  He gave his head a little flip to get his mohawk to fall across the other side of his face and looked at her with a warm smile, but Lin’qa sensed the apprehension behind the facade.  He was worried she wouldn’t buy it. He needed her to buy it. 

 

“If it’s so great, why are you selling it, Captain…?” Lin’qa frowned, trying to remember his name.

 

“Maruk! Maruk Grimnka.  My cousin and I just got offered some new cargo contract and we were running this old boy as close to his weight capacity as we could get it already.  Won’t work with the new contract, we’ll exceed the weight allowance by over double if we try. We kinda need this money to put the down payment on the new vessel.”  Maruk relaxed and smiled more as he spoke, and Lin’qa found herself believing him.

 

“Show me the inside,” she said, trying not to sigh too deeply.  Her mind was already made up before Maruk hastily showed her the inside.  Well, it was made up barring a total catastrophe upon inspection, anyway. It was just an engine room connected by a hallway to a cockpit, but Lin’qa didn’t see any reason to pass on the ship; it looked like it would get her to where she was going.  Beyond that, she was also getting nervous that someone from the embassy would see her and recognize her. If that happened, word would get to Felida, and then who knew what she would do.

 

_ “She’ll act in self-preservation…”  _ The thought chilled Lin’qa, but she knew it was true.  She was a threat to her sister’s position, and she’d seen first-hand what her sister did to perceived threats.  If she sent more goons after her like Go’a and his band of kidnappers, she could fight them, if she saw them coming.  It was a long shot, but maybe she could fend them off this time. What if she sent some of the family’s Dreamers, though?  Could she fight Thais? Could she kill him, to save herself, or the family? 

 

“Nice doing business with you!” Maruk grinned wide when Lin’qa handed over the money, his shoulders relaxing visibly.  “What was, uhh, your name again? I gotta talk to the dockmaster and let him know who owns it now.”

 

Lin’qa was quiet for a while.  Should she give a fake name? It probably wouldn’t matter, she’d be away from the city tonight.  No, that was dumb, what good would it do to leave a trail? “My name is… Lin’qa… Lin’qa Talla.” She answered honestly anyway, not entirely sure why she was doing it.  It felt good to say it out loud, either way.

 

“Talla? Weird.  We brought some prissy noblewoman in from the Clans named Talla a few weeks ago.  Well, whatever, I aint digging into your family’s business.” Maruk scratched his chin and gave her a friendly wave before ambling off, humming happily to himself.

 

Lin’qa frowned.  Maruk had brought in someone from her family to Lek a few weeks ago?   That had to be Felida, but what had happened that she’d been forced to catch a ride on this hunk of junk?  Part of her wanted to stay and find out what had happened. Maybe there was a new weakness now that she could exploit.  But… no. She just wanted to back off, to take an easier path. It was tempting to call the whole thing off now, but she was dedicated.  She was going.

 

The nameless ship rumbled to life after a series of quick pre-flight checks and authorization from traffic control.  She lifted off smoothly, checked her compass, and set a southeastern course. It wasn’t an especially long trip down to the edge of the massive plateau that Lek was built upon.  Once she cleared it, she began to descend, going straight down. There was a strange verticality to the astral plane that she found very disquieting. After a few hours of constantly descending as fast as she safely could, she couldn’t see the top of the plateau above her, or the ground below.  The side of the cliff looked like one of the massive prairies she’d visited at home, except made out of stone and tilted ninety degrees.

 

She followed the landmarks that had been described to her, a stretch of glassy green stone that was shaped like an arrow, and further down, a strange sprawling tree-like vegetation that branched out five different ways as it crawled across the stone of the plateau.  It was broader than the ship ten times over, and she followed the bottom left branch along the side of the endless expanse of stone.

 

A crack in the rock came into view a while later.  It was much taller than the ship but only about twice as wide.  Zhrek’ahalle had told her that she may have to moor the ship just inside the crack and walk through.  Given that she’d deliberately sought out such a small airship, she could probably pilot it straight to the rift and avoid a cross country march through the Hells.

 

She took it slowly, nudging her ship inch by inch into the darkness that was only weakly dispersed by the ship’s lights.  Once she was fully inside, she waited. Zhrek’ahalle had said it wasn’t far inside, and she didn’t want the ship to be torn apart by the rift when it opened.  It’d be open for twenty minutes every five hours, or so he’d told her. She set the ship to hovering, and walked through the hallway to the engine room. She knew that she had plenty of fuel, but she wanted to check anyway, just for something to do.  The needle on one of her engine’s readouts told her that she had thirty two hours of flight time left. That meant she’d probably been flying for about four hours, since the ship would use less fuel controlling its descent than it would to ascend or to fly straight.

 

It took her two hours to get hungry enough to unpack the food she’d brought with her and start eating.  It was Laniwyn’s cooking, of course. She’d left her friend behind with a note of apology, a note explaining that she had to stop her sister.  Her stomach tied itself into a knot as she thought of Laniwyn, and she pushed the ruminations aside. Laniwyn would probably slap her silly when she got back.  She could cope with that, she’d accept the elf’s anger in retribution for this. It was the right thing to do, after all, and her friend would understand in the end.

 

It almost felt scripted, the way the cavern filled with an angry red light the moment she put the plate away.  The entire rift seemed to transparently shimmer into existence all at once. The strange, jagged gash into another plane was an angry red colour.  The rift led to ashen black clouds and crimson skies over a molten hellscape. With a determined exhalation, Lin’qa set the craft to ahead standard, piloting it through the narrow opening.  Given that the rift was small, infrequently periodic, and located out of the way like this, she wasn’t surprised that it hadn’t been found and sealed shut by the Lek authorities. Or at least, it hadn’t just yet.  Hopefully it stayed open long enough for her return trip. Maybe she’d report it afterwards, it couldn’t be safe to have a rift to the Nine Hells this close to the city.

 

Even inside the cockpit, she felt a wave of heat wash over her as she crossed the threshold into a new plane.  The faint smell of brimstone and ash seeped in past the flimsy insulation that had probably been minimal to begin with and then not maintained properly throughout the ship’s lifespan.  Her compass spun and whirled wildly as soon as she got clear of the rift, and Lin’qa reached for the one Zhrek’ahalle had made for her that was stashed in her bag. The device was more or less the same, she’d bought a compass and brought it to the Devil. He’d replaced the needle with one made out of obsidian.  It didn’t make any sense to her how it could work this way since obsidian wasn’t magnetic, but the needle of the obsidian compass pointed steadily ‘north’, whilst her normal one continued to spin irrationally.

 

Zhass’roalle’s tower was another three hours away according to her instructions, so she set a course just as soon as her new navigation equipment oriented itself properly.  The barren, scorched land was rough, rocky and jagged. Four volcanoes oozing lava dominated the horizon in several directions. The streams of magma all merged into a single river that flowed past her into the distance.  From her height, she could swear that she saw a slight curvature to the landscape that she hadn’t ever noticed on the Astral or Prime Material planes. Perhaps the Hells were about the same size as her home plane, she mused.

 

The ship lurched, and Lin’qa squealed as the walls shifted and one of them crashed into her.  There was a horrible, vertigo-inducing sensation as things spun and objects fell onto the wall that had just become the floor.  She desperately tried to check the controls to make sure she was still flying, hoping to get the ship out of whatever state of freefall it had gotten into.  It only took a few seconds of stillness before she realized that she wasn’t plummeting to her death, the ship was somehow at a stable altitude. It was just sideways, and bobbing up and down steadily like she was on a naval vessel not an aeronautical one.  There was a loud sound of groaning wood as everything shifted a little, and gravity reoriented itself again to be angled towards the cheap glass of the front window. She wedged herself between the floor and the wall, and tried to look out the window without putting too much stress on it, lest it fall out of its frame under her weight.  For the most part, she was looking directly down at the ground, but as she looked to the side, she saw it.

 

For a brief moment, something massive and black flicked into existence, pushing downward even as the ship lurched up a tiny bit.  It came repeatedly, and it wasn’t until the 10th cycle that she realized it was the beating of a massive leathery wing. Whatever was carrying her ship didn’t take her far, she saw a sprawling settlement of black iron buildings built along the side of the river of magma drawing closer, and she knew it most certainly did not match the description of Zhass’roalle’s tower.  The ground drew steadily closer as they descended, until the front glass of her window hit the smooth paved stone of what looked like a landing pad with a crunch. The glass shattered under the impact, and Lin’qa shielded her eyes as the ship shrieked, tilted, and crashed into the ground. When she uncovered her eyes, she saw that the new floor was the ceiling. The ship was upside down, and thankfully she’d somehow managed to avoid getting hurt.

 

“Hey! Humie! Come on out before we carve that hunk of junk open and drag you out!”  A rough, gravelly voice called from the outside, and it was accompanied by a chorus of jeering laughter.  Lin’qa gingerly walked along the curved ceiling, kicked the door open, and peeked her head outside. The first thing she saw was a massive, raven-like creature, except it had bat wings, and two heads.  One was staring at her quizzically, whilst another preened a wing with its long, sharp beak. 

 

“Down here, Humie,” The same voice called, and Lin’qa looked at the approaching quintet of figures.  They were tall, lanky, red-skinned humanoids with long curved horns and elongated canine faces. At first, she wasn’t sure how to gender them, but then she saw some subtle feminine curves on the one who was taunting her that the other four didn’t share.

 

“Idiot!”  The Devil in the middle smacked the one who’d called to her in the back of the head.  “That ain't no Humie that’s one of the cat people! A shasa!” The first devil snarled, and let out a braying sound that vaguely resembled a bark.  The two glared at one another before the recriminated one backed down and averted her eyes, grumbling to herself.

 

“So, Shasa.  What you doing here in our little corner of the Hells and what's your best domestic skill, since you're my pack’s new servant.”  The ‘lead’ Devil smirked at her hungrily as he spoke.

 

Lin’qa let out a breath, calming herself.  She knew what to say, Zhrek’ahalle had coached her a little.  “I’m already Zhass’roalle’s servant, and you’re making me late.”  She glowered at the devils from the upside-down door frame. There was a moment of shocked silence as the five devils looked at one another silently, as if one of them knew what to do and was withholding it from the group.  One of the crow-devil’s heads cawed at them indignantly, breaking up the silence.

 

“You’re full of shit,” The female devil finally spat at her, brandishing a crude curved sword in Lin’qa’s direction.  “You think name dropping will get you out of this, mortal?”

 

“Hey! Hey! Speak for yourself, fuckhead, I am not risking making Zhass’roalle angry just to get my hands on  _ one _ mortal!” One of the Devils angrily stepped forward, puffing his chest out at the one accusing her.  A murmur of agreement spread throughout the ranks even as the one dissenting devil glared daggers at the rest of them.

 

“Come on out of there, we’ll get your ship flipped right way around. Hey!”  The lead devil gestured to her for a moment, and then turned around and started to caw at the giant raven-devil.  Both heads snapped downward to regard the devil addressing them, and both of them let out a single squawk in unison.  The two (or, three?) argued like that in bird noises for several moments before the creature bobbed both its heads up and down for a moment and started hopping over towards Lin’qa’s airship.

 

Lin’qa carefully climbed down and out, stepping away from her airship as rapidly as she could as the crow devil hopped closer, each little jump sending a tiny tremor through the rock.  It reached out one clawed foot, and flipped her ship over onto its belly with a crash. As soon as it was done, one of the heads looked at the lead devil, and cawed at him one last time.  He waved his hands dismissively, and the bird spread its wings and started to fly away, the downdraft nearly knocking Lin’qa off her feet.

 

“Alright, shasa, get the fuck out of here before we change our minds.  And remember we gave you no real trouble when you get to Zhass’roalle.”  He stalked several paces closer to Lin’qa and glared at her.

 

When Lin’qa crawled back into her very dented and somewhat bent ship, she was convinced it wouldn’t get back up off the ground.  It surprised her when it lifted off, groaning and creaking a lot, but without any real issues. She tried to fly ahead standard, but as she picked up speed, the soot and ash flying into her eyes through the remains of the window made her slow down.  The three hour trip turned into five, before the outline of a black stone tower appeared around the curve of a jagged outcropping of stone. She set the airship down a short distance away, the damaged craft creaking and protesting as it came to rest.  Lin’qa winced a little. With luck, it still might fly her out of here once it came time for her to make the return trip to Lek. If not, well… she’d find some other way back, maybe make that hike after all.

 

It was about a five minute walk from where she landed, and she half expected another gigantic infernal monster to swoop out of the sky and squawk at her or carry her away.  Nothing happened, and she reached the base of the tower unmolested. She fully expected the runed black iron doors of the tower to respond to her presence somehow, but they didn’t.  They remained inert even as she placed her hand on one of the massive double doors and waited, gathering her courage before she pushed them open. They opened just as effortlessly as the door to The Tenth Hell had despite being several times the size, and she slipped inside the moment they were open wide enough for her to fit.

 

The tower was dark, not because it wasn’t well-lit, but because everything was made out of dark stone or covered in black cloth and tapestry.  It was beyond gothic and had ventured deep into the realm of being in obsessively poor taste. Red stones were embedded into the walls and suspended in iron holders on surfaces. Their infernal glow cast a red light on everything, as though the decorator felt that the red ‘sun’ and the river of magma outside weren’t quite enough crimson for their taste.  Then again, maybe that was just the only real option in this plane. There was no art in the way she’d have been used to seeing in such a lavish building; there were no paintings and no rugs, but there were several sculptures. Most were odd, abstract pieces that looked like creative wire frameworks, but some were sculpted out of obsidian, and most of those were… strangely delicate.  Animals, flowers, humanoid forms. Some were actually kind of pretty, much as she didn’t have much time to analyze them. Lin’qa’s attention was upon the figure that stood at the top of a curved flight of stairs, right across from the entryway.

 

When Zhrek’ahalle had said sister, Lin’qa had imagined some attractive dark-skinned Devil humanoid with bat wings and a spaded tail.  The nine-foot tall creature that stood atop the staircase had wings, but that was about it. The wings attached to their shoulders were covered in large, snowy white feathers that might have been pretty if the rest of them weren’t so horrifying.  Their maw was huge, slightly elongated, and lipless. Nothing hid their of six-inch long interlocking fangs from sight, they were visible down to the gums. A pair of long, twisted horns sprouted from their forehead, pointing upwards towards the ceiling.  The rest of their body was a strange mix of scales and feathers. Long, dagger-like claws tipped each of their three fingers, and their feet were scaled avian talons. They were naked, but had no chest or genitalia that Lin’qa could see. Somehow, that made them look more alien than bestial overall.

 

They advanced down the stairs, and with each step, they changed.  their horns faded to feline ears in an imitation of her own. The wings melded into their back and vanished. As their skin lost its leathery texture, the rows of small compact feathers vanished from their shoulders and ankles.  The flat, featureless chest grew both nipples and a set of perky breasts that would make any Rakshasa female jealous. Their claws shrank back into their hands, forming a perfectly manicured set of humanoid nails, including on the two new fingers that grew out of their palm. The taloned feet merged into a set of five small yet perfect toes.  Their scaled tail shrank and sprouted black fur, re-proportioning itself from a pointed lizard tail into a fuzzy Rakshasa tail. Their hair remained jet black, and their eyes retained an infernal glow. The terrifying maw melted into an impossibly pretty and delicately-featured face. They were a perfect imitation of an overly tall six foot feminine Rakshasa as they reached the bottom of the staircase, say for the small infernal touches that seemed to have been left there deliberately.  They grabbed a garment hanging on a hook at the bottom of the stairs and slipped it on over the top of their head. It was a strange, partially translucent piece of clothing that seemed to cover very little and Lin’qa wondered what the point was in even putting it on.

 

“A Mortal venturing into Hell at all is strange enough, but you’re not just lacking the sense of self-preservation to steer clear of this entire plane, you’re suicidal enough to walk into  _ my _ tower.” their voice was soft, lyrical, and chilling. As they approached, their tail elongated.  It reached out towards Lin’qa in an act of motility and intent that she knew her own tail couldn’t accomplish.  She pulled on her magic in defensively, preparing to create a construct to ward away the invading appendange.  **_“Touch your magic and die, Rakshasa!_ ** ”  The creature hissed loudly, their true form’s fangs appearing inside their mouth for such a brief moment that it looked like it could easily have been Lin’qa’s imagination.  Darkness seemed to swirl around them as they spoke, and Lin’qa felt a tremor of fear run through her. She’d known from the start that this was a bad idea, but now she was beginning to truly understand just how bad.

 

The tail continued towards her and wrapped lightly around her neck, slowly tightening to a gentle squeeze. The pressure reminded Lin’qa that while their tail may look like hers just now, it probably had enough strength to crush her windpipe if they wanted.  Lin’qa swallowed, trying to suppress her fear. This bitch wouldn’t have even made Momma flinch. Momma wouldn’t have put up with this intimidation bullshit for even a second. “The walking down the stairs as you transform is a real classy move. You probably practice that when you’re alone, yeah?”

 

The Devil walked closer, their eyes burning red.  They reached out and grabbed Lin’qa by the chin. Their hands were so strong, for how delicate and feminine they’d been made to appear.  “Yes I do,” they replied darkly, their voice devoid of humour. “Why are you in my tower, Mortal?”

 

“You’re Zhass'roalle? I was led to believe you’d be willing to negotiate a price for your services.”  Lin’qa spoke whilst keeping her voice calm. This was seeming like a worse and worse idea the further she got into it.  If she died like this, pointlessly running off to try and negotiate with fiends, would Momma be mad? What would she say to her, what punishment would her stupid recklessness earn?  No, that was the wrong way to think. She hadn’t gotten herself killed, not just yet.

 

“You know my name, but clearly not my reputation, Rakshasa.  Yes, I am they. What could a mewling little runt like you actually require an erinyes for?”  A bit of the anger and threat faded from their eyes. They seemed somewhat interested now, and Lin’qa wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad sign.

 

“There’s a Rakshasa noblewoman that I want killed.  I need her impersonated for a little bit afterwards as well.  I can’t do it with illusions, they’d smell the magic coming a mile away.  I need someone who can shapeshift and physically take her form.” The words came out without a stammer or a stumble.  She’d been practicing them on the ride here.

 

“Your soul.  Pledge it to me and I can do as you ask.”  Zhass'roalle spoke without hesitation or consideration.  She was testing Lin’qa, trying to see if she’d be a chump and agree to the first offer.

 

“No.  My soul is worth more than a day-long visit to the Wild Plane to murder someone and you know it.”  Zhrek’ahalle had warned her that they would try something like that.

 

Zhass'roalle grinned, their teeth gaining a little bit of pointiness as the expression grew.  “So it isn’t. Particularly one such as yours… The misery and pain radiating off of you is so thick I can taste it from here, and I am absolutely  _ salivating _ over it...” They leaned in, and took a deep breath.  They held it for a moment, their eyes shining joyously as they delighted in... whatever it was that they were doing.  “Alright, my sweet prey, you have me interested. A fair deal then. Spend one hundredth of a Cycle in my care, during which you are mine to do with as I please, shy of permanently breaking or damaging you.  After that, I’ll murder your… who is this girl to you, anyway?”

 

“My sister.  She’s stolen the heirship of House Talla from me.” Lin’qa swallowed the lump in her throat.  ‘Shy of permanently breaking you’ sounded like an oddly specific reassurance and it brought her little comfort.

 

Zhass'roalle positively glowed at her words, their eyes softening into a deep violet that did nothing to detract from their otherworldliness.  “Sororicide! What a dark and twisted little creature you are!” They tittered girlishly and their tail let go of Lin’qa’s neck as they moved in closer to her, getting in her personal space the way Momma used to do when she really wanted her attention.

 

Lin’qa tilted her head up at the creature and scowled at their words.  She was not twisted and evil like this monster was, she was just doing right by herself and her family, even after all they’d done to her.  She was stopping Felida from starting wars and spreading misery just so that she could enrich herself. “I accept your terms.” She said, ignoring the insult.  When it came down to it, she’d been called worse.

 

Zhass'roalle reached forward with their hand, and pantomimed that they were grabbing something out of the air right in front of Lin’qa’s chest.  they pulled back, faking that they were straining themselves, or at least, that’s what it looked like. A moment later, she felt it. She screamed as the Devil pulled on something deep within her, like their fist had actually closed around her heart and was ripping it out of her chest.  Their arm retracted a little further, and Lin’qa’s vision went dark.

 

She was in an endless void, and she couldn’t tell if she was standing on something intangible or if she was forever falling.  A cacophonic howling of infernal wind swirled all around her, the sound was so loud that it hurt her ears. She looked around herself in a panic, trying to get her bearings, and she saw Zhass'roalle just off to the side.  They were in their true form, and they had a shimmering thread of light held in their talons. They looked up from it at Lin’qa and their eyes twinkled, the bestial maw not capable of grinning, but Lin’qa knew what they were thinking.  The Erinyes pulled a thread out of their own chest, this one a horrific pulsing darkness that seemed to shine against the backdrop of nothingness. They wrapped the two threads together, twisting them tightly, and then they walked over to her.  “ **_Normally I bestow a ring for the mortal to wear, but I think this little band on your arm will be a much more interesting vessel.”_ ** They shoved the two interwoven threads into Lin’qa’s arm, and there was a rush of motion as she returned to the floor of the tower.

 

Her chest hurt, her stomach heaved, and she threw up on the dark stone.  She ached all over, and wondered if this was what it felt like to have your very soul be in pain.  She looked over at the band on her arm, the last piece of Momma that she had left, and saw the plain iron now had letters etched into it in an infernal script.  The words burned and shifted like they were made out of magma. “You… You bitch! This is all I have left of…!” She lifted her gaze to try and intimidatingly stare daggers at Zhass’roalle but somehow she doubted she was doing a very good job of it.

 

Zhass'roalle was back in their imitation Rakshasa form.  They walked around to her side and dropped to one knee. They leaned in close, their nostrils flaring as they breathed in hard.  “Mmm, the mark of a slave. You seem to wear it proudly, and it’s all you have left of someone?” They grabbed Lin’qa by her hair and pulled.  She squealed at the rough way she was dragged onto her feet, stumbling to rise fast enough to alleviate the pain and grabbing at the erinyes’ arm.  With her arms raised above her head, she had no protection from Zhass'roalle’s hands, which had suddenly sprouted talons again. Several swift raking motions tore her short sleeved blouse to ribbons.  Part of a sleeve slid down and caught on her right wrist but the rest fluttered to the floor.

 

Part of her, her old instincts and habits that she’d been trying to fall back into, told her to cover her body up, to pull back.  She wasn’t  _ that _ far back into being Lin’qa though.  Forty years of letting dozens, hundreds, and occasionally thousands of people stare and leer at her body had stripped away her shyness, probably never to return.  “Is that what you plan on keeping me here for? Is it that hard to get a prostitute in Hell?” She spoke defiantly, successfully keeping her voice steady.

 

Zhass'roalle laughed, a soft lyrical noise that reminded her a bit too much of home.  The noise felt like a knife missing her heart by an inch. “I am somewhat fond of the pleasures of the flesh, and you Rakshasa do have a fragile beauty that one doesn’t see here in the Hells.”  their hand ran across Lin’qa’s chest, her fingers finding one of her nipples and pulling on it experimentally. In spite of her intentions, she moaned softly, squeezing her eyes shut. Her nipples were still very sensitive, the effect of the hormones she was still taking hadn’t ebbed much over the years.  With a smirk, the Erinyes pulled up the hem of their gown, revealing a smooth, bare crotch like they were a doll. The skin split in two, morphing and adjusting itself until it took on the shape of a small, perfectly pink pussy, glistening with just the tiniest hint of moisture. Lin’qa recoiled a tiny bit in surprise at the way the organ seemed to form out of nothing.

 

Zhass'roalle pinched another nipple, and leaned in, biting down on Lin’qa’s neck.  The bite was nothing like Dellie’s playful love bites. When her former playmate had bitten her, it had never hurt that much. Instead, the girl’s teeth and hot breath on the flesh of her neck had overwhelmed her with sensations until she hadn't been able to do anything other than whine and lie there deliriously.

 

Zhass'roalle bit down painfully hard into the side of her neck, her tender skin screaming in protest at her.  The image of the Erinyes’ true form flashed through her mind, specifically the pointed fangs that had been longer than the span of her hand.  A fear welled up within her, and she fought the panic of the possibility that the Devil was about to literally bite her head off. She felt a throb of pain rip through her and she cried out, tears running from her eyes.  No fangs and no decapitation came, and Zhass'roalle pulled back, a malicious joy shining in their eyes.

 

“Not your first choice? Well, that suits me just fine, I prefer the other one anyway.”  They laughed as tears rolled down from Lin’qa’s eyes. That same taunting, feminine laugh that was as delicate as a needle tipped with poison.  Lin’qa clutched her neck, the bite mark was starting to thrum and pulse with a steady rhythm that she could have set a melody to. She had no idea what the Erinyes meant until she felt something hot and warm brush against her bared stomach.  She looked down and her eyes widened. Where the vagina had been was a thick fleshy black sheath that was probably five inches long. Poking out from the sheath and running against her midriff was another six inches of half hard pink cock that was already drooling precum.  She shouldn't have been surprised, but she was. Of course they could shapeshift something like this, it wouldn't make any sense if they couldn't. “This one is my favorite, it makes pretty mortals like you let out even prettier screams.”

 

Lin’qa blushed.  Momma had always told her everybody could see what a bitch she was with just a glance.  She knew it was true, even if she didn't understand how. Momma was always right about this stuff.  “You didn't have to bite me to get a blowjob. Sends a weird message, yeah?” She suppressed the terror and gave the Devil her best cocky smirk. 

 

‘ _ Don’t let this dumb cunt intimidate you.  Stand up for yourself a little, Kitty, I can’t do it for you anymore.’   _ Momma’s aging and sickly voice ran through her head.

 

Zhass'roalle exhaled slowly, a frustrated sound that felt like resignation.  Their hand closed around Lin’qa’s throat. There was a brief moment of weightlessness and breathlessness as the Devil lifted her up, carried her the two steps to the wall, and slammed her into it.  Her eyes bugged out of her head as she stared at the erinyes. She clutched feebly at the slender, pale-skinned hand that was holding her against the wall every bit as sturdily as Momma could have. A strangled croak escaped her mouth as the reflexive panic of being choked gripped her before the fuzziness of asphyxia kicked in.

 

Zhass'roalle’s eyes burned like they were pits Into the depths of the ninth Hell.  “Mouthy like an orcish sailor. I suppose I could rip the tongue out and cauterize the stump, but fucking a mortal’s mouth just isn’t quite the same after I do that.  Hmm… what’s a devil supposed to do…? Girl, do you truly think your idiotic babbling is flustering me, or am I missing your point?” They loosened their grip, allowing Lin’qa to suck in a few precious gasps of air.

 

“I…” Lin’qa croaked the word out, and swallowed as a cold shiver running down her spine.  She couldn’t do it. She was trying to be cocky and tough like Momma but this creature wasn’t buying it even for a moment.  “I was hoping for a little fluster…” Her voice felt so small, and fragile.

 

Zhass'roalle giggled, their features softening slightly, the sadistically joyous expression briefly eclipsed by a childlike mirage.  They leaned forward, the tip of their cock leaving a wet trail across Lin’qa’s midriff as they moved. A soft, wet, scratchy tongue dragged across her cheek as the erinyes breathed in again.  Their claws flashed, severing the waistband of her skirt and ruining the last piece of functional clothing that she had left. It occurred to her that she hadn’t managed to own clothes for very long, and now she was back to where she’d been.  Except, instead of Momma, she had a psychopathic monster pinning her to the wall. She’d actually liked how Momma had pinned her to the wall and fucked her. She was good at supporting her weight properly as she’d rammed her cock into Lin’qa’s pussy.  She’d cum many times as her clitty had rubbed against Momma’s solid abdominal muscles. Now, she had the worst fear boner of her life.

 

Zhass’roalle’s small, soft arms pressed her into the wall like she was made out of paper.  She wasn’t pinned in place by skillful positioning so much as by sheer, unholy strength. It was actually rather painful, it felt like she was being crushed.  “This might be too big for your comfort, but I happen to quite like this size. You looked absolutely ecstatic when you saw it, I’m sure you have an orifice that can accomodate… where is it on mortals… Ah! Here.”  Zhass’roalle giggled delightedly as the tip of their cock found Lin’qa’s hole and they pushed.

 

Lin’qa wanted to be indignant.  She had  _ not _ been ecstatic when she’d seen this creature’s nightmarish dick.  But, a soft shuddering moan made half out of pain and half of desperate anticipation escaped her lips anyway.  Zhass’roalle was not patient, and they gave Lin’qa no time to adjust or get comfortable as they rapidly prodded and demanded penetration from her.  An electric shock of pleasure cut through the discomfort and the pain that made her gasp. Old habits. She was falling into this so quickly…

 

“Despair… nostalgia… joy… What a delightful array of shameful emotions.” Zhass’roalle let out an excited titter as they forced the head of their cock into Lin’qa’s squeezing cunt.  “And you’re  **so – Uuunf! –** Tight!”  They leaned in, the crimson flames burning in their eyes making Lin’qa squint like she was looking directly into a candle.  Zhass’roalle pressed their lips to hers and leaned in close, their perky breasts rubbing against Lin’qa’s own sensitive nipples.  Lin’qa couldn’t help but notice how soft and delicate the erinyes felt pressed against her, even as they started to gyrate their hips, pumping that grotesque cock into her soft, yielding insides.  Zhass’roalle’s tongue invaded her mouth, exploring and probing against Lin’qa’s own tongue roughly. She whimpered in surprise as the devil’s tongue continued inward, past where it should have been possible to extend into her mouth.  She gagged and choked as the wet appendage continued past even that and fucked her throat even as the infernal cock fucked her ass. Once the initial shock passed, she relaxed her throat. Physically, it wasn’t terribly different from deepthroating a cock, even if it felt weird as fuck.

 

“Suck on it! Kiss your Master like you mean it, pretty one.”  Zhass’roalle’s voice came out of nowhere, perfectly clear despite the fact that their tongue was still violating Lin’qa’s face.  She whined softly, and started pressing her lips back into the Devil’s own. She tried to work her tongue against the erinyes’ but there was so little room in her mouth.  She pushed and tried to make room in her own mouth against the invader, but it felt like her throat had been completely conquered by this creature. The tongue dipped down quite deeply into Lin’qa’s throat before it retracted and started to slide in and out like it was fucking a pussy instead of her face.  Zhass’roalle pressed their face to Lin’qa’s again, harder, and more insistent, and she started to kiss the devil back, with a strange, terrified passion. She contracted her throat around the soft, pliable invader, and massaged the bottom of their tongue with her own. 

 

Zhass’roalle shifted their angle and started a series of deep, penetrating thrusts that slammed against Lin’qa’s prostate.  She groaned around the tongue that was sliding in and out of her throat as each thrust sent a shock through her system. Her clitty left a trail of pre across the erinyes’ soft stomach as she writhed helplessly against the stone wall.  As swiftly as it had invaded her throat, the tongue receded, and Zhass’roalle let out a contented groan of their own. Lin’qa looked into their eyes for some meaning, but they just thrust their hips harder, slamming the grotesque pink appendage against Lin’qa’s sensitive insides.  She let out a loud, slutty groan as she wiggled and squeezed her cunt down on it, giving herself over to this creature, to what they were doing to her. Zhass’roalle insistently scooted forward, cramming more of the unholy cock into her, trying to force the wide point of the sheath into Lin’qa’s cunt.  She cried out as the devil thrust their hips forward, and her ring stretched, almost admitting the wide part of the strange cock but not quite. Zhass’roalle leaned down, their mouth latching onto Lin’qa’s sore, bruised nipple and sucking roughly. Lin’qa screamed, and as she did, Zhass’roalle pushed again, the sheath popping inside her, stretching and filling her past her previous limitation.

 

“So little resistance.  What a wanton little beast you are.  Did you give in so easily to your last owner?”  Zhass’roalle chuckled, their voice suddenly a deep fiery rumble that sounded similar to their natural voice.  Lin’qa wanted to protest, to fight past the echoing waves of pleasure radiating out of her stretched, gaping fuckhole throughout her body.  She tried to bring herself out of her haze long enough to get a defiant sentence out. Zhass’roalle’s teeth found her collarbone before she could, biting hard into the sensitive flesh just below it.  She screamed as she came, her clitty spurting over their stomachs as the creature’s teeth marred her flesh. Zhass’roalle didn’t slow down even as Lin’qa’s insides exerted their full strength squeezing themselves around the alien pillar of flesh.  Her pussy was as ineffective at slowing the erinyes’ terrible strength as the rest of her had been. She was forced to shudder and moan and cum in pain and ecstacy like a butterfly pinned to the wall.

 

A feral snarling sound made Lin’qa shiver and she looked away from the ceiling at Zhass’roalle.  Their eyes burned brightly as they bared their teeth, humping and thrusting their cock into Lin’qa’s cunt in a way that she knew meant the creature would be filling her full of their cum very soon.  A particularly hard thrust made her shudder in a sort of painful pleasure that was far too soon into her refractory period to be enjoyable.

 

“Such a pliant little – Ugh! Mortal play **_thing!...!”_ ** Zhass’roalle gasped, their voice suddenly becoming a soft feminine noise that reminded her of the sounds Dellie made when she came.  They thrust their cock hard straight into Lin’qa’s prostate and she squealed, her clitty drooling out a thin trail of cum that ran down her compact balls and dripped onto the floor.   The first shot of Zhass’roalle’s cum was a bloom of warmth that spread through her insides. Her exhausted, fuck-drunk body accepted it willingly. It wasn’t Momma that had just fucked her senseless and filled her with semen but her body didn’t know that and she let out an orgasmic groan as Zhass’roalle pumped her full of her seed, the biology of which Lin’qa didn’t even want to think about.

 

“Momma…” she murmured out of habit in her post-orgasmic haze.  She wrapped her arms around Zhass’roalle’s neck, even as the erinyes chuckled at her.

 

“Rest for now, my little morsel,” Zhass’roalle whispered into her ear, the tip of their tongue tracing along the edge of her earlobe.  “We will drag your history, your sorrows and your joy out of you when you awaken. You have no idea how much I’m looking forward to hearing all the different screams you can produce.”  Their cock came free of Lin’qa’s pussy with a wet plop, and she felt a not insignificant trickle of their cum running down the inside of her thigh. Her hole was far too dilated to hold any of the cum inside her, and she gave up trying to clench it closed.

 

Momma would have cared about her dripping cum all over the rug… but she wasn’t here just now, was she?

 

***

 

With a jarring clank that made Daliyah wince, the blacksmith’s chisel and hammer cut away the last of the locking mechanism keeping her collar on.  It fell to the table in a clatter of broken metal and Daliyah’s hands immediately rose up to feel her now unadorned neck.

 

“Thar ye be, lass! ‘Ows it feel ta ‘ave that blighted orcish steel offa ya?”  The stocky dwarf who’d been brought in beamed at her as he set his tools down.

 

“Weird.  Feels like I’m going to float away,”  Daliyah smiled back at the blacksmith, though mostly just to humour him.  He had a sort of infectious joviality to him but she wasn’t really in the mood.

 

“You’re sure we can’t pay you for this?” Thais added the broken collar to the pile of scrapped metal that they’d removed from Daliyah.  Apparently he was one of House Talla’s Dreamers, which explained why he’d greeted her at the door to the embassy with a show of magical force.

 

“‘Course I’m sure, laddie!  Let it not be said that I need’ta be paid ta knock sum filthy greenskin’s slave irons off.  Jus promise ta ‘ire me fer sumthin’ down tha road, aye?” He winked at Daliyah’s escort and finished packing his tools up.  He hummed happily to himself as he left the way he’d come, leaving Thais scratching his head.

 

“Thais, can I ask you something?” Daliyah asked as soon as the dwarf had gone.

 

Thais turned around and gave Daliyah a quizzical look.  “Sure?”

 

“Miss Talvizsa offered to make me a Dreamer for the family.  Do you think I should?”

 

“Did she?  Well, House Talla is pretty good to work for.  So long as you’re not Lin’qa they’ll treat you well.”  Thais smiled at her, chuckling a little.

 

“So long as I’m not Lin’qa?”

 

Thais winced a little, his wry chuckle capsizing like a raft being crushed by a storm.  “Err, well... I was kinda joking, but yeah. Lady Talvizsa and Lord Kitra were pretty cruel to their first born, Lin.  Poor kid. Kinda wish I said or did something before he ran off, but it’s not my place. He’s probably better off now, anyway.”  A grim expression crept its way onto Thais’ face as he spoke, and he looked embarassed.

 

“Alright, thanks.  I’ll think it over.”  Her parents had been cruel to her?  Daliyah felt a surge of anger well up within her.  She wanted to protect Lin’qa from this. From the orcs, from everything.  Only  _ she _ was allowed to torment that girl.  Thais left her alone in the room she was using, and as he stepped outside, she heard him talking to someone, a soft female voice replying.  A moment later, a knock came at the door, and Daliyah bid the person to enter.

 

Daliyah looked up at the door as it cracked open to allow a single lithe form to slip inside quietly.  The girl sneaking into her rooms was a little shorter than Daliyah – though she’d come to learn that most Rakshasa were – and her colours were so similar to both Lin’qa and Talvizsa that she had to think she must be related.  The girl gave a furtive glance around the room before she smiled at Daliyah in a terribly insincere way.

 

“Hi there. Daliyah, was it?”  The girl asked. What was it that Talvizsa had said her other daughter’s name was? Felida?  Well, she had another name to call this person by that she knew better.

 

“Hi, Smoke.  Didn’t expect to see you here.”  Even with all that had happened, and even in this new context, Daliyah recognized the Rakshasa who had called herself ‘Smoke’ back in the Fifty Clans.  She was pretty sure her real name was indeed Felida now that she thought about it, but she didn’t want to guess.

 

Smoke cleared her throat, frowning a little at Daliyah.  “Ah, right to the point, huh? So, you know of my pseudonym.”  Smoke walked over to the couch Daliyah was seated on and took the empty seat.  Daliyah looked over at her, a bit confused at how personal Smoke was being. She remembered when she was a slave, she had tried to talk to Smoke, and she had acted like Daliyah had the plague.  

 

“Yeah, I remember seeing you.”  She looked over at the other girl, keeping her body language neutral.  Smoke was fishing for something and she didn’t know what it was just yet.

 

“So, Daliyah, I really need to know what you’ve said about me to other people here.  Specifically, about ‘Smoke’.” Smoke inched a little closer, looking at Daliyah intently.

 

“Nothing,” she answered honestly.  She’d actually forgotten all about her, and certainly hadn’t realized she was Lin’qa’s sister until just now.

 

A visible wave of relief washed over Smoke, and her body language instantly loosened up.  A smile crossed her lips, but there was still an eager glint in her eye. “Good to hear. What would it take from me to…  _ convince _ you not to bring up the topic of my alter ego?”  Daliyah frowned a little in confusion as Smoke leaned in a little closer and placed one hand on her thigh.  She had a mischievous look on her face full of suggestion and implication. It took Daliyah a few seconds to realize that Smoke was hitting on her.

 

“You’re saying we can fuck if I don’t mention this to anybody?” Daliyah looked Smoke over.  She was pretty, and looked a lot like Lin’qa in a few ways, which was unsurprising given that they were siblings.  Smoke had a slightly darker tone to her colours, a longer tail, and her face shape was a little narrower even though their eyes were almost identical.

 

Smoke let out a nervous chuckle, licking her lips and backing away just a bit.  “Well, uhh… I wasn’t gonna say anything so forward, but…”W-Woah!” Daliyah took Smoke’s hand off her thigh, placed her own hand on the other girl’s chest.  She roughly shoved her down against the padded armrest of the couch. She leaned forward towards the prone girl, her other hand snaking upwards to tangle in her hair until she had a solid grip to control her head with.

 

“You wanna fuck?  I don’t fuck gentle,”  Daliyah whispered, staring intently into Smoke’s eyes which were growing wider by the moment.  Daliyah recognized the submissive thrill that ran through the other girl, and she knew that she had her.

 

“I-I don’t really…!” Felida spluttered a little and tried to deescalate the situation, but Daliyah shoved the hand not in Smoke’s hair down the front of her pants and against her slit.  There was a wet ‘schlick’ as her fingers rubbed against an excited, dripping pussy.

 

“You don’t what?  Feels like you’re gushing to me, you submissive little slut.  You’re just like your sister, I assert myself a little and you’re instantly moaning and making a mess on my hand.”  Daliyah slipped a digit inside Smoke’s incredibly tight pussy and started to finger fuck her.

 

“I don’t have a sis—Ah! Fuck, cut it out you—!”  Smoke squealed and shuddered. Her thighs clenched tight around Daliyah’s hand like they were trying to crush it.

 

Daliyah yanked on her hair, and hissed softly.  “Legs apart. I won’t ask you twice,” she ordered sternly.  Smoke whimpered and reluctantly parted her legs again, allowing Daliyah to continue pumping her fingers into the girl’s sex, rhythmically stimulating her until she started to shudder.

 

D-Daahhh! Aah!” Smoke squealed before long, her body tensing up.  She whined softly and bucked her hips into Daliyah’s hand, her own hands gripping the side of the couch for dear life.  Daliyah frowned as she continued to fuck the girl through her thrashing. This little cunt was cumming already? She was going to have to learn to ask her Mistress first.

 

Daliyah pulled on Smoke’s hair to shut her up even as she pressed her thumb against the girl’s clitoral hood, rubbing it and coaxing the little nub of flesh to show itself.  When her efforts yielded success, she started to rub it directly. The extra stimulation as she was already in the immediate aftermath of an orgasm made Smoke scream and thrash.  Daliyah was forced to tug on the slut’s hair a few times to keep her from falling off the couch. She grinned wickedly to herself as she kept pumping her middle finger in and out, her thumb insistently rubbing circles around the sensitive bundle of nerves.

 

“S-Stop… Dali… it hurts…” Smoke whined, trying to crawl away from Daliyah.

 

Daliyah pulled back, and slapped smoke right in the cunt with a cupped hand.  Smoke howled, her hips bucking into the air as she bared her teeth. Daliyah just slapped her again, the act producing a wet squelch from Smoke and a sadistic grin from her.

 

“What the fuck! Stop tha—”  Daliyah slapped her again, and Smoke groaned as she both came and tried to curl up into a fetal position.  Daliyah hissed softly at the girl, shoving her against the couch and keeping her face up. She slapped one of her diminutive breasts to get her attention even as she grabbed her hair again with her other hand.

 

“I’m not Dali, I’m ‘Mistress.’  I’d throw an ‘if’ in there, but I know desperate sluts like you well enough to know that you’ll definitely come crawling back to me desperate to get off.  Now, what do you have to say to me, cunt?”

 

“S-Sorry, Mistress…” Smoke looked up, biting her lower lip a little, and shivering.

 

“Good enough for now.  So, you came twice already without permission.  Get your Mistress caught up, and if you half-ass it I will be very displeased.” Daliyah grinned and scooted forward, using the hand that was still holding onto the submissive bitch’s hair to pull her face into her own pussy.  She frowned a little in disappointment when it became obvious that Smoke would need some training at licking pussy. Well, she wasn’t a well-trained eager bottom like Lin’qa was, but she’d do for now.

 

After a few seconds, Daliyah got impatient and grabbed Smoke’s head.  She adjusted the girl’s face until it was where she liked it. “Right there.  Get your tongue inside.” She spoke sternly, and Smoke eagerly took to the instruction.  She gyrated her hips back and forth on the girl’s face, purring softly and enjoying the build-up.  This was nice. Rubbing her pussy on a slut’s face, completely free to follow her own pace. Free to stop entirely if she wanted to.  She could probably just knock on Smoke’s door later on, barge on in and fuck her. She’d need to get a new strap-on cock, there’d be leather workers in town and she had some money left over. 

 

She shifted her hips, repositioning Smoke’s lips onto her clit.  “Suck it—! Ah! Gently! And watch your teeth!” Daliyah hissed softly as Smoke went too rough for her tastes at first.  Once she did start to suckle gently and at a comfortable pace, Daliyah let herself relax again, the intense sensations wracking her body more rapidly, building up to a crescendo.  “Goood girl…” Daliyah crooned, petting Smoke’s hair gently as the girl ate her out and built her up towards an orgasm. She clamped her thighs around the girl’s head, mostly because she just happened to like the idea of smothering her between them as she came.  She did exactly that, squeezing and growling at Smoke as she came. Smoke tried to squeal and pry her thighs apart to alleviate the pressure but didn’t succeed. Daliyah came as she rode and ground her sex against the submissive girl’s face, shuddering and gasping and paying no heed to the slut’s discomfort.

 

“F-Fuck!” Smoke coughed and gasped for air as she managed wiggle out of the vicelike grip of Daliyah’s thighs.  Basking in her afterglow, Daliyah relaxed and let Smoke free. She slid backwards, sitting on her chest. She warmly smiled down at the face of the indignantly pouting girl below her.  Without warning, she slapped her damp, sticky face and grinned at the shock in her expression.

 

“I don’t like you cursing.  Apologize.” Daliyah smirked down at her wickedly.

 

“You…!  Umm… Sorry…”  Smoke mumbled lamely.

 

“Sorry who?”

 

“Sorry… Mistress?” Daliyah watched her intently as she used her new title, and she saw Smoke shiver submissively.

 

“Better.  Now, I’m going to need you to recommend a leatherworker to me…”


End file.
